Current:Home > ContactGuyana rejects quest for US military base as territorial dispute with Venezuela deepens -Trailblazer Capital Learning
Guyana rejects quest for US military base as territorial dispute with Venezuela deepens
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:16:02
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana’s Attorney General Anil Nandlall said Thursday that Guyana’s government has reassured neighboring Venezuela there is no plan for the U.S. to establish a military base in the South American country and that it has not made a formal request for one.
Nandlall spoke to The Associated Press days after Daniel P. Erikson, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western Hemisphere, visited Guyana and one day after Guyanese officials announced they were seeking help from the U.S. to improve its defense capabilities.
Nandlall and other officials in Guyana have sought to temper tensions with Venezuela over a disputed region known as Essequibo rich in oil and minerals that represents two-thirds of Guyana and that Venezuela claims as its own.
“We have not been approached by the United States to establish a military base in Guyana,” said Guyanese Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, adding that the government does not conduct public policy at press conferences.
Erikson visited just weeks after a long-standing dispute over Guyana’s Essequibo region deepened, with Venezuela holding a referendum in December to claim sovereignty over the area.
Nandlall told the AP that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro remains “convinced that Guyana could host” a U.S. military base. He said Maduro raised the issue when he attended an emergency mediation meeting in St. Vincent last month to talk about the territorial dispute with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.
“(Ali) reiterated that this is not so, but we will encourage cooperation with our allies in defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Nandlall said.
Guyana and Venezuela have agreed to refrain from using force, but the dispute continues, with Venezuela insisting that Essequibo was part of its territory during the Spanish colonial period, and that a 1966 agreement nullified a border drawn in 1899 by international arbitrators.
____
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
veryGood! (5929)
Related
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Nevada Republicans have set rules for their presidential caucus seen as helping Donald Trump
- How will the Top 25 clashes shake out? Bold predictions for Week 4 in college football
- Mel Tucker changed his story, misled investigator in Michigan State sexual harassment case
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- An Iowa man who failed to show up for the guilty verdict at his murder trial has been arrested
- Louisiana folklorist and Mississippi blues musician among 2023 National Heritage Fellows
- With temporary status for Venezuelans, the Biden administration turns to a familiar tool
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- Are you Latino if you can't speak Spanish? Here's what Latinos say
Ranking
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Kelly Clarkson's 9-year-old daughter River Rose sings on new song 'You Don't Make Me Cry': Listen
- 2 dead, 2 hurt following early morning shooting at Oahu boat harbor
- Flamingos in Wisconsin? Tropical birds visit Lake Michigan beach in a first for the northern state
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Tropical Storm Ophelia forecast to make landfall early Saturday on North Carolina coast
- 'We still haven't heard': Family of student body-slammed by officer says school never reached out
- U.S. Housing Crisis Thwarts Recruitment for Nature-Based Infrastructure Projects
Recommendation
Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
Yom Kippur 2023: What to know about the holiest day of the year in Judaism
A Black student’s family sues Texas officials over his suspension for his hairstyle
'The Super Models,' in their own words
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
Judge sides with ACLU, orders Albuquerque to pause removal of homeless people’s belongings
Louisiana folklorist and Mississippi blues musician among 2023 National Heritage Fellows
Water restrictions in rainy Seattle? Dry conditions have 1.5M residents on asked to conserve