According to the BBC, the UK is getting ready to dispatch a warship to Guyana to demonstrate its military and diplomatic support for the former British territory.
It happened when Venezuela, a neighbor, reaffirmed its claim to a disputed area of Guyanese land that is mineral and oil-rich.
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After Christmas, HMS Trent will participate in joint drills, the Ministry of Defence said.
The sole English-speaking country in South America is Guyana, a Commonwealth member.
An offshore patrol ship called HMS Trent was retasked when Venezuela’s government threatened to seize Guyana’s Essequibo area earlier this month. Originally, the ship had been sent to the Caribbean to look for drug smugglers.
This increased concerns that Venezuela may invade and start South America’s first interstate conflict since the 1982 Falklands Conflict.
For a long time, Essequibo, a 61,000 square mile area that makes up about two thirds of Guyana, has been claimed by Venezuela.
Massive oil resources have been discovered off its coast, while the country’s highlands and jungles are rich in bauxite, diamonds, and gold.
Venezuela’s economy is struggling, but Guyana’s is expanding quickly.
On December 3, Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro held a referendum to show that the people supported his nation’s claim to Essequibo.
Despite the fact that the outcome was hotly contested, he still appointed a new governor, issued identity cards to residents of the thinly inhabited area, and published new maps and laws designating Essequibo as a part of Venezuela.
He has also ordered the state oil company to provide extraction licenses.
After meeting with Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana, Mr. Maduro pledged not to use force, but he has stuck to his territorial claim, and the two sides cannot agree on a legal way to resolve the border dispute.
Guyana was included on the London-based Lloyd’s insurance market’s list of the riskiest maritime zones this week.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence informed the BBC: “HMS Trent will visit regional ally and Commonwealth partner Guyana later this month as part of a series of engagements in the region during her Atlantic Patrol Task deployment.”
With a crew of 65, HMS Trent can reach a maximum speed of 24 knots and cover 5,000 nautical miles.
Along with a group of Royal Marines, it is equipped with a 30mm gun. It is also capable of deploying unmanned aircraft and Merlin helicopters.
Early in December, HMS Trent sailed from its home port of Gibraltar and is now spending Christmas alongside at Bridgetown, Barbados.
It is anticipated that the battleship would anchor off Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, and engage in mutual visits, exercises, and training with the nation’s navy and other partners. The port is too shallow for it to pass alongside.
In addition to combating piracy and smuggling, safeguarding fisheries, fighting terrorism, delivering humanitarian supplies, and conducting search and rescue missions, the Royal Navy claims that the ship is also intended for border patrols and defense diplomacy.
A increasing UK initiative to provide diplomatic backing for Guyana internationally includes the deployment of HMS Trent to the country.
Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, stated last week that the UK would “continue to work with partners in the region to ensure the territorial integrity of Guyana is upheld and prevent escalation”.
Visiting Georgetown on December 18, David Rutley, the Foreign Office Minister for the Americas, became the first G7 official to do so since Venezuela reaffirmed its claim.
Venezuela’s vow to refrain from employing force was appreciated, and he pledged Guyana the UK’s “unequivocal backing.”
Mr. Rutley noted: “The border issue has been settled for over 120 years. Sovereign borders must be respected wherever they are in the world.”
He added, “The UK will continue to work with partners in the region, as well as through international bodies, to ensure the territorial integrity of Guyana is upheld.”
Yvan Gil, the foreign minister of Venezuela, criticized the visit and charged that the UK was destabilizing the area.
He expressed this in a post on X, the former Twitter: “The former invading and enslaving empire, which illegally occupied the territory of Guayana Esequiba and acted skillfully and sneakily against the interests of Venezuela, insists on intervening in a territorial controversy that they themselves generated.”
The border, drawn by an international treaty in 1899, is disputed by Venezuela.
Up until 1966, when it gained independence, Guyana was known as British Guiana.
