By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Even as President David Granger prepares to leave for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Venezuela has scaled up its military presence on the border that it shares with Guyana.
This confirmation was made by President Granger on Tuesday September 22, where he confirmed that a high level security meeting has been convened by the Guyana Government to counter the aggression made by Venezuela.
“The situation is getting worse not better. Although Venezuela is embroiled in a major controversy with Colombia, we have recently received reports that Venezuela is making extraordinary military deployments in Eastern Venezuela; that is western Guyana; that seems to be impacting on Guyana’s territorial defense,” President Granger told reporters.
According to the President, the actions taken by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro are nothing short of “very provocative.”
“We feel that Venezuela is threading a very dangerous course at this point in time. Rather than seeking a peaceful resolution of the matter, Venezuela seems to be pursuing a very offensive and aggressive course,” said Mr Granger.
It was noted that the military scale up includes marine forces and different forms of ground troops. When asked how Venezuela’s actions can be construed to mean aggression towards Guyana, President Granger stated that his years in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) have familiarized him with Venezuela’s behaviour.
“I have been, in my earlier profession, familiar with Venezuelan behavior and what we have noticed during the month of September is an extraordinary escalation of Venezuelan military activity,” the President stated.
Relations between Guyana and Venezuela have been suffering a continuous downward spiral since President Maduro issued a decree claiming 2/3 of Guyana on May 26, 2015 – Guyana’s 49th Independence Anniversary.
The situation deteriorated thereafter with Venezuela recalling its Ambassador for consultations and subsequently suspending the process to appoint a new envoy.
Throughout this period, Guyana has maintained that the matter should be taken to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a settlement of the 1899 Arbitral award once and for all.
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