- St Vincent PM Responds to Venezuela Statement on HMS Trent
- UK sending patrol ship to Guyana
- Gonsalves hopeful Essequibo talks remains positive
- Guyana-Venezuela Border Dispute
As the British naval vessel HMS Trent approaches Guyana, St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he hopes for less activities that could be construed as provocation or threats.
Gonsalves was replying to Venezuela’s statement that the presence of the HMS Trent constituted a provocative gesture.
A representative for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence said: “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.”
Gonsalves remarked on state radio on Wednesday that the deployment of the HMS Trent in Guyanese seas is at the invitation of the Guyana government. The Caribbean island Prime Minister stated that the “warship” visits the region, including St Vincent, to assist with drug interdiction, human trafficking, search and rescue, and has very limited military capacity.
“I read the Venezuelan statement very carefully; they consider this an act of provocation. They didn’t say it was a threat, but what they said was a threat was taken into conjunction with activities with the US Southern Command. It appears that the conjoined present a threat of force. The statement was firm, but the statement was not particularly belligerent, Gonsalves stated”.
“The US Southern Command has conducted training exercises in St Vincent and other countries of a limited kind, but Venezuela will naturally be concerned.”
“I think we will have things like this over the period, as you would expect. As an interlocutor, I was in touch with the president of Guyana and the president of Venezuela, with assurances given from either side of commitment to peace and continued dialogue,” the prime minister said.
Gonsalves expressed optimism that there will be less activities that could be viewed as provocation.
“What I’m hoping for is that there will be fewer acts, which may be open to the interpretation of provocation or threat, but I’m not expressing a view because I’ve been asked to continue the role of interlocutor.”
The prime minister said what transpired at Argyle on December 14 was historic, and he hopes it will continue in that spirit.
Following a series of meetings on Thursday, December 14, 2023, at the Argyle International Airport, His Excellency Nicolas Maduro, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and His Excellency Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, signed an 11-point peace declaration to defuse tensions over the Essequibo border controversy.
