No one with knowledge of the long-standing territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela is likely to be shocked over the recent seizure of two Guyanese fishing boats by the Venezuelan Lynges and the detention of their Guyanese crew in Guyana’s territorial waters late last month. Despite the release of the boats and crew on Tuesday, it is a development that is typical of the kind of pinprick aggression carried out by Venezuela against Guyana for decades and which has included armed raids into and even Guyana territory the age of physical occupation by the Venezuelan Military from areas belonging to Guyana.
Caracas’ aggressive behavior towards Guyana has also affected the operations of ExxonMobil, a US oil company currently in the midst of oil recovery and exploration operations that are predicted to significantly transform Guyana’s economy. In early 2019 besieged Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro responded to the 2015 announcement by ExxonMobil that he had recorded ‘world-class’ oil discoveries in Guyana and that the prospects for further discoveries were better than good, with pronunciation to’ r that its administration would prevent the influential US oil company from exploring for oil in offshore waters that it claims to own. Militarily, this is a threat that Venezuela, even in its current decidedly populated state, can deliver without great difficulty.