The Brazilian Ministry of Defense will deploy 20 armored vehicles to strengthen security at the border with Venezuela due to increased tensions between the Venezuelan government and Guyana.
In addition to the armored vehicles, 130 Brazilian soldiers were deployed in the state of Roraima, which borders both Venezuela and Guyana.
The armored vehicles, of the Guaicuru model, will leave units in Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul, where they are located, and will contribute to the increase of the number of soldiers in Roraima.
Tensions increased in this region of South America following the holding of a referendum in Venezuela on the annexation of the Esequibo region, currently administered by Guyana.
Venezuelans voted last Sunday in favor of the intentions of the government of President Nicolás Maduro to have Venezuela annex the territory of Esequibo.
A day after the vote, Maduro announced that he had a plan to regain Venezuelans’ rights to the Esequibo.
However, if Venezuela wants to carry out a military offensive against Guyana, it will have to pass through the territory of the Brazilian state of Roraima.
According to the news portal G1Brazil’s Defense Minister José Múcio Monteiro said sending armored vehicles was already planned to combat illegal mining in that region of the country, but that the vehicles could help with security.
According to the Brazilian minister, the equipment will be placed in the barracks of Boa Vista, capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima, in a squadron that will be transformed into a cavalry regiment, with 130 soldiers.
The Esequibo region, which appears on Venezuelan maps as a “zone under claim,” has been under UN mediation since 1966, when the Geneva Agreement was signed.
Covering an area of 160,000 square kilometers (km2) and rich in minerals, the Esequibo is under the administration of Guyana, based on a document signed in Paris in 1899, which establishes territorial boundaries that Venezuela does not accept.
The controversy increased in recent years after North American oil company Exxon Mobil discovered several crude oil deposits in the territorial waters of the disputed area in 2015.
Source: DN
