Venezuela might mount a military move into Guyana as Caracas faces accusations that it is attempting an aggressive land grab in its resource-rich neighbor, it has been reported.
Brazilian intelligence has warned that the Venezuelan army is going to invade Guyana in the coming days, Defence Blog.org reported, raising concerns about regional stability and territorial disputes in South America.
Open source X account OSINT defender posted on Wednesday that Brazilian armed forces are in a "heightened state of readiness" following a significant movement of military equipment and personnel in eastern Venezuela on the border of Guyana.
Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil for comment.
The news comes amid increasing tensions over Venezuela's interest in the territory of Essequibo, an area rich in natural resources administered and controlled by Guyana and whose sovereignty is claimed by both countries.
Venezuela has laid claim to Essequibo, dating back to the Spanish colonial period and has contested the border set by international arbitrators in 1899, during Guyana's time as a British colony. Caracas' interest in the region was renewed after ExxonMobil's oil discoveries near Essequibo in 2015.
A referendum in Venezuela is scheduled for Sunday in which President Nicolás Maduro and his government will ask voters to answer questions such as whether current and future residents of Essequibo should be granted Venezuelan citizenship.
Maduro's main challenger in Venezuela's upcoming presidential elections, María Corina Machado has said the referendum must be suspended.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, said Washington had not shifted its position on the legitimacy of the border and called on Caracas to respect its neighbor's sovereignty, media in Guyana reported. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State, Brian Nicholas, had said in September that "efforts to infringe upon Guyana's sovereignty are unacceptable."
A move to destabilize the region spearheaded by Maduro could pose problems for Washington. The U.S. under former President Donald Trump, set a goal of toppling Maduro in 2019 after elections widely seen as fraudulent and as an economic crisis precipitated the departure of more than 7 million Venezuelans to neighboring countries, as well as the U.S.
In July, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Biden administration recognized the 2015 National Assembly as the "only remaining democratically elected institution in Venezuela today."
"Our approach to Nicolas Maduro is not changing," he said. "He is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela."
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