Venezuela’s Maduro Launches 5,000 Plus Troop Exercise In Response To UK Warship

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday ordered more than 5,600 military personnel to participate in a “defensive” exercise, after Britain said it was sending a Royal Navy warship to waters off neighboring Guyana.

Maduro said he was launching “a joint action of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the United Kingdom against peace and the sovereignty of our country.”

Prior to the current standoff the HMS Trent had reportedly monitored the Caribbean in search of drug smugglers as a military offshore patrol vessel. It is armed with heavy guns and typically carries a unit of Royal Marines and a combat helicopter.

The vessel has been confirmed now in regional waters:

HMS Trent was reported to have made a stop in Bridgetown, Barbados, after leaving its homeport at Gibraltar earlier this month. The vessel is scheduled to head towards Guyana this week and anchor off Georgetown to participate in a series of training exercises with the country’s navy and other allies, the BBC reported.

The border dispute has been a source of tension and disagreements going all the way back to the 19th century, but Maduro recently sponsored a referendum on whether his government should use force to finally resolve it.

He then provocatively announced that 95% of Venezuelan citizens voted in favor of a forced annexation. This drew quick condemnation from Caracas’ longtime enemies the US and Britain.

On Wednesday Venezuelan forces were placed on a ‘high state of alert’ following the reports of the British warship moving toward the coast.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López issued a blistering warning on X in response to HMS Trent’s presence. “A warship in waters yet to be demarcated?” he said.

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