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Guyana slams Venezuela for an incursion into oil-rich disputed waters
Guyana's President Irfaan Ali speaks during a press conference in Argyle, St Vincent, December 14, 2023

GUYANA President Irfaan Ali slammed an incursion by an armed Venezuelan naval vessel on Saturday into disputed waters that are home to a mammoth offshore oil deposit being developed by ExxonMobil.

In a televised address, Mr Ali said Guyana was hurriedly notifying all of its international allies and had summoned Venezuela’s ambassador to lodge a formal protest.

“This incursion is a matter of grave concern,” he said. 

“Guyana’s maritime boundaries are recognised under international law.”

Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez disputed Mr Ali’s claims and called ExxonMobil’s oil installations “illegal.”

“He’s telling bald-faced lies,” she said in a statement.

Since ExxonMobil made its major oil discovery in Guyana in 2015, Venezuela has revived a century-old territorial dispute with Guyana and held a referendum promoting its claim to the Essequibo region, which comprises about two thirds of Guyana’s land mass.

The area was colonised by Britain for more than a century, and it has been under Guyanese control since 1966, when the nation gained independence.

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