Maduro Starts Military Exercises with 5,600 Troops in Guyana

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has resolutely rejected the arrival of the British naval vessel HMS Trent to the shores of Guyana. He has ordered to strengthen the defense in the Eastern Caribbean region and to initiate exercises near Venezuela's Atlantic coast.

"This is a threat from the United Kingdom against the honest, peaceful, but warlike people of Venezuela," Maduro stated during a New Year's greeting to the Bolivarian Armed Forces.

"Venezuela respects the agreement reached with Guyana regarding the resolution of territorial disputes, but cannot sit idly by waiting for threats, regardless of their origin, and will respond proportionately to them," Maduro emphasized.

The President has instructed to commence "defensive operations of the armed forces" in response to the "provocation from Great Britain" and has ordered military exercises to begin off the country's Atlantic coast. "Venezuela has the right to defense, tranquility, and peace. We do not accept provocations and threats from anyone and anything. Venezuela responds to threats and provocations with decisiveness and patriotism," Maduro underscored.

The exercises, involving more than 5,600 Venezuelan troops, are named General Domingo Antonio Sifontes 2023. They are operating in the Eastern Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean.