Venezuelan military last seen in Guyana’s waters four days ago - Chief-of-Staff

Venezuelan military last seen in Guyana’s waters four days ago – Chief-of-Staff

Feb 01, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Chief-of-Staff Brigadier, Godfrey Bess, informed the public on Saturday during a live-streamed presidential briefing that the Venezuelan Navy was last seen in Guyana’s waters four days ago.

Chief-of-Staff Brigadier, Godfrey Bess

Bess was at the time responding to questions from the media regarding the consistency of patrols by the Spanish speaking nation in Guyana’s territorial waters.
Bess responded that Venezuelan navy ships were observed in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) since January 14. He went on to state that the Venezuelan military presence was last seen in Guyana’s EEZ on January 27.
“We recognize that their mode of movement has been in our EEZ approximately 60 nautical miles east of our middle line and approximately 25 nautical miles from the coast of Guyana. The last time they would have been there was on the 27 of January”, said Bess.
The Chief of staff said that these sightings have been confirmed via Guyanese air patrols. Bess said that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) have been logging the Venezuelan military operations and will continue to do so.
He also assured that GDF is prepared and is currently conducting patrols in Guyana’s EEZ to ensure its “military presence is being felt”.
The increased Venezuelan Military in Guyanese territories comes after its Commander in Chief and President, Nicholas Maduro issued a presidential decree on January 7, vowing to re-conquer the Essequibo.
The Maduro decree purports to establish a new maritime territory of Venezuela called ‘Territory for the development of the Atlantic Façade’.
The so-called Atlantic Façade, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses Guyana’s territorial waters, continental shelf, and its land territory to west of the Essequibo River.
In keeping with this plan, Maduro had ordered through his Minister of Defence, Vladamir Padrino, to ensure the constant patrolling of Venezuela’s purported legal waters, and the permanent observation by air and sea on the Atlantic coast.”
The Essequibo has been in a bitter territorial controversy between Guyana and Venezuela for a number of years now. The matter is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has since ruled that it has jurisdiction to resolve the issue. Guyana’s argument is that it has sovereign rights over the coast and land territory because it was awarded to the then British Guiana in the 1899 Arbitral Award.