Brazil strengthens border with Venezuela after Maduro’s threats to Guyana

Brazil has beefed up its military might in recent days along its vast border with Venezuela, in the country’s far north, following threats from Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to invade and annex parts of Guyana, a neighboring country. Brazil’s military high command believes it is unlikely that Maduro’s campaign for the Venezuelan presidential election will actually provoke a war, but they have decided to take some precautions just in case.

During this week, the Brazilian army moved at least 200 more soldiers (the exact number was not disclosed) to Pacaraima, a city in the state of Roraima that is the main link between Venezuela and Brazil, and left the rest to prevent an advance in case it was necessary to move quickly to the side this border region. More tanks and other military equipment, as well as a lot of ammunition, were also sent to Pacaraima.

Senior Brazilian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the increase in Brazilian troops and military power on this border could be considered “phase zero” of efforts to contain a possible armed conflict. Two other cities that deserve special attention from the Brazilian military are Bonfim and Normandy. These two cities are located on the border with Guyana and are located within the largest indigenous reserve in Brazil, the Raposa Serra do Sol.

In recent weeks, in the midst of an election campaign, Nicolas Maduro has reignited and intensified a dispute between Venezuela and Guyana that dates back hundreds of years to colonial times over ownership of Essequibo, territory that is now part of Guyana. Maduro says the territory belongs to Venezuela and that if necessary, he will annex it by force of arms.

Essequibo, a region of 160,000 square kilometers with a population of 120,000 people, covers more than 60% of Guyana’s total land area and is home to enormous wealth, namely gold, diamonds, nickel and bauxite, but what fuels the desire for Maduro most is – this territorial sea is the Stabroek oil block, exploration of which began in 2019 and has reserves that have not yet been fully measured, but are very large.

To invade Guyana on a large scale by land, Maduro would first have to invade Brazil, currently ruled by his friend of decades Lula da Silva, to whom he owes Venezuela’s recent return to the international stage.

Venezuela and Guyana share a border, but on the Guyanese side the terrain is extremely rugged, almost entirely covered in extremely thick and dense forest, making a land invasion impossible. If the Venezuelan dictator decides to carry out this insane threat, Venezuelan troops will first have to enter Brazil through Pacaraima and then advance through Brazilian territory until they can enter Guyana through the border with the Brazilian cities of Bomfim and Normandy.

This Friday, the International Court of Justice in The Hague denied Venezuela any rights to the Essequibo territory and warned of a high risk of war for Venezuela and the entire region. But Nicolas Maduro still held a plebiscite on this issue this Sunday, December 3, which international analysts assessed as another form of election rhetoric, but with the President of Venezuela you never know.