US backs Guyana over Venezuela dispute: Update

Updates with details throughout.

The US administration is reemphasizing its support for Guyana as Venezuela escalates threats to annex its neighbor's oil rich border state.

US secretary of state Tony Blinken in a phone call with Guyana's president Irfaan Ali late Wednesday reaffirmed "the US' unwavering support for Guyana's sovereignty," the State Department said. The US is calling for a peaceful resolution of the countries' territorial dispute through the International Court of Justice and is backing the court's call on Caracas to refrain from the use of force.

The Pentagon's Southern Command, which oversees US military forces in the western hemisphere, said it plans to conduct flight operations over Guyana today in what is likely a show of US recognition of the country's existing borders.

The US does not have a defense treaty with Guyana, but the US Southern Command has provided training to Guyana's military in recent years to assist with coast guard and drug interdiction operations.

The flight exercise "builds upon routine engagement and operations to enhance the security partnership between the US and Guyana," the Southern Command said.

The White House described the Air Force exercise as "routine military operations" unrelated to the Venezuelan threat. "We recognize the sovereign territory of Guyana, and as we do with many sovereign nations in the region, we would conduct operations and exercises as appropriate."

The White House declined to comment on reports of Brazil deploying troops to its border with Guyana and Venezuela. "We're obviously in touch with all our partners and we don't want to see any violence or conflict to occur there," the White House said.

The prevailing sentiment in Guyana and the US until now viewed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's action in the context of rallying domestic support ahead of the presidential election next year.

But Maduro's government is rapidly escalating its demands. Caracas held a referendum to reaffirm its claim on western Guyana's Essequibo province, has given ExxonMobil and other offshore oil producers operating in Guyana 90 days to stop operations in the disputed waters. It has also issued arrest warrants to 13 Venezuelan opposition politicians accused of being "agents of ExxonMobil."

The latter action escalates a separate dispute with the US on the conduct of Venezuelan elections, because some of the accused are part of opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado's campaign team.

The US has named Machado's ability to participate in the election as a condition of continued relief from oil sanctions. The US has also demanded that Caracas release political prisoners and US citizens held in US jail, threatening to quickly snap back some of the sanctions temporarily lifted in October.

Guyana produced 375,000 b/d in January-September and ExxonMobil projects the country's output at 1.2mn b/d by mid-2027. At that level, Guyana could be producing more oil than its neighbor, which claimed output is around 800,000 b/d in November. Even with continued relief of US sanctions, Venezuela is not expected to add more than 200,000 b/d in the near term.

By Haik Gugarats