Venezuela amasses troops near its border with Guyana, despite an agreement to avoid escalation

(CNN) — Satellite images show Venezuela has beefed up its military presence near the disputed border with Guyana, despite the fact that Caracas said it would seek diplomatic means to resolve a historic territorial dispute with its neighbor over Essequibo.

Maxer’s images, collected in January, show the expansion of operations at a military base on Venezuela’s Anacoco Island, on the Cuyuni River bordering Guyana, with parts of the rainforest recently cleared and others razed. When the images were taken. Photographs also show new infrastructure and several armored vehicles present at the site.

Although the landing strip has not changed, a helicopter can be seen there and the approach roads have been improved.

President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro (Credit: Pedro Rances Matte/Anadolu via Getty Images)

North of the base, at the Cuyuni River crossing that provides land access to the site, a heavy river ferry is visible and large tracts of rainforest have been cleared. On one side of the road is a large stockpile of construction materials as well as three armored vehicles.

In January, Venezuela boasted of expanding its military presence in the region in propaganda videos broadcast on its army social media accounts, showing bulldozers clearing land, as well as light tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in motion, and Mi-17 military transport helicopters. .

“(The expansion of the base) is promoted by the 11th Armored Brigade together with the Corps of Engineers of the 6th Army of Venezuela, which is improving the FANB response system in this important border area with the state of Essequiba of Guyana and eliminating any incident that attacks. Republic,” the Venezuelan army said in a release on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Aerial view of Essequibo region taken from Guyana on December 11, 2023. (Photo by Roberto Cisneros/AFP via Getty Images)

The expansion of Venezuelan operations along the disputed border was first reported by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The military buildup comes despite Venezuela reaching an agreement with Guyana on December 15 to avoid escalation and try to resolve the dispute between the two countries without the use of force.

In a joint statement, the two sides agreed “not to threaten or use force against each other under any circumstances” and to “refrain, in word or deed, from aggravating any conflict or disagreement arising out of any dispute between them”.