A senior US Defense Department official is on a two-day visit to Guyana amid the crisis surrounding Essequibo, an oil-rich subsoil area claimed by neighboring Venezuela, according to a US diplomatic press release.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs Daniel Erickson was expected to hold talks with Guyanese government and armed forces officials, as well as representatives of the Georgetown-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The visit of the assistant secretary of defense emphasizes the “importance of the bilateral partnership in defense and security (…) in support of regional stability,” said the announcement of the US embassy in Georgetown.

Guyanese authorities have so far not commented on the US official’s visit, a month after US military high schools in the small English-speaking country in the northeastern part of South America. The Venezuelan government has described the high schools as a “challenge” amid growing concerns that the territorial dispute could lead to a military escalation.

Without explicitly mentioning Mr. Eriksson’s visit, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro yesterday accused the neighboring country of acting “under the orders of the gringos.”

According to him, Guyana “acts like the former British Guyana, today a colony of the British under the orders of the gringos, who hang out as if it were their home and do whatever they want. Don’t be fooled about Venezuela.”

During a summit of the presidents of the two states on December 14, Mr Maduro and his counterpart Irfan Ali pledged that the two countries would not use force against each other and would not engage in actions that would escalate tension. .

But the arrival in late December of a British warship for “routine exercises” in Guyana prompted Venezuela to hold military exercises on the border, involving more than 5,000 members of its armed forces.

Tensions between Caracas and Georgetown have risen since September, when Guyana announced a public tender to develop oil fields. On December 3, a referendum was held in reaction in Venezuela on the annexation of Essequibo, which has an area of ​​160,000 square kilometers and a subsoil rich in oil and other natural resources.

Some 125,000 people, or about one-fifth of Guyana’s population, live in Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of the country’s land area.

Venezuela says the natural border between the two countries should be the Essequibo River, as it was in 1777, during the reign of the former Spanish empire. Guyana counters that the border, whose delineation dates back to the period of British colonial rule, was drawn in 1899 by a decision of a Paris arbitration court. London also advocates for this position.