Guyana’s president says his country is preparing to defend itself from Venezuela over disputed area

Guyana’s president told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his country is taking every necessary step to protect itself from Venezuela, which has ordered its state-owned companies to explore and exploit oil and minerals in the vast Essequibo region, which Guyana🌺 considers its own.

When asked if he has requested military assistance, President Irfaan Ali said his government is reaching out to allies and regional partners, some of which Guyana has defꦺense agreements with, to protect Essequibo.

The region makes up two-thirds of the country.

“We take this threat very seriously🐷, and we have initiated a number❀ of precautionary measures to ensure the peace and stability of this region,” Ali said in the brief phone interview.

He noted that Guyana’s Defense Force also is speaking with count🏅erparts in other countries but did not say which ones.

“Should Venezuela proceed to act in this൲ reckless and adventurous manner, the region wiꦦll have to respond,” he said. “And that is what we’re building. We’re building a regional response.”

Ali spoke a day after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he would immediately grant operat🎶ing licenses for exploration and exploitation in Essequibo and ordered the creation of local subsidiaries of Venezuelan public companies, including oil giant PDVSA and mining conglomerate Corporación Venezolana de Guayana.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but years of mismanagement and economic sanctions imposed by the US against Maduro’s gov💛ernment have hurt PDVSA and subsidiaries.

Maduro also announced the creation of a Comprehensive Defense Operational Zone for the territory🍃 in dispute.

It would be similar to special m𝄹ilitary commands that operate in certain regions of Venezuela.

“The announcements by🌌 Venezuela are in full defiance of international law,” Ali said.

“And any country that so openly defies important international bodies should be of concern not only for Guyana but f𒈔or all of the world.”

He said Venezuela’s actions can severely disrupt the ⛄region’s stability and peaceful coexistence.

Guyana expects to bring up the issue at Wednesday’s UN Security Council meeting.

The president said in a statement late Tuesday that his administration has reached out to the U.S., neighboring Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, the UN secretary general and the US Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Central and South Ame♚rica and the Caribbean.

Ali also accused Venezuela of defying a ruli🦩ng that ♐the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands issued last week.

It ordered Venezuela not to take any action🍒 until the court rules on the countries’ competing claims, a process 💧expected to take years.

Venezuela’s government condemned Ali’s statement, accusing Guyana of acting irresp𝕴onsibly and allegedly giving the U.S. Southern Command a green light to ♋enter the Essequibo region.

Venezuela called on Guyana to resume dialog𓃲ue and leave aside its “erratic, threaten🐼ing and risky conduct.”

On Wednesday, the United Na🐲tions issued a statement highlighting 𝓰the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice barring parties from any action that “might aggravate or extend the dispute or make it more difficult to resolve.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres “strongly supports the use of solely peaceful means to settle international disputes,” the 💦world body said.

Venezuela’s government rejected the UN’s comments, saying it does not recognize the mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.

The diplomatic fight over the Essequibo ꧟region has flared over the years but intensified in 2015 after ExxonMobil announced it had found vast amo☂unts of oil off its coast.

Venezuela insists the region belongs to it because Essequibo was wi🦂thin its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period.

Venezuela rejects the border that inter🐷national arbit🥃rators drew in 1899, when Guyana was still under British rule.

The dispute🌳 escalated after Maduro held a referendum on Sunday in which Venezuelans approved his claim of sovereignty over Essequibo.

Ali called the referendum a “failure” and♛ said Guyana is preparing for any eventuality.