Confronted by the evidence revealed by the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, about the maritime incident provoked by the US transnational ExxonMobil [1], 10 out of the 12 member states of the Lima Group have withdrawn article 9 of the joint communiqué. Under this article, the Group had denounced an alleged Venezuelan provocation, which placed in danger security in the region.
Only two countries – Canada and Paraguay – did not make the necessary correction. For the governments of Canada and Paraguay, the version of events given by ExxonMobil and the US State Department continues to be valid… even though there is evidence that negates it; evidence that does not leave space for any doubt.
So what’s the US version? Venezuela expelled a ship (see photo) carrying out prospecting works in waters, title over which is disputed with both Venezuela and Guyana claiming to title to it.
The reality is quite different. President Nicolas Maduro has made public the recordings (video and audio) in which the crew of the boat in question transmits its precise position to the Venezuela coastguards. This makes clear that the ship was located at the opening of River Orinoco. In other words the ship was in the territorial waters that are internationally recognized to belong to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
The incident took place on the day after a motion of no confidence had been adopted in the Guyanese Parliament that took power away – by just one vote – the government of Guyana. The motion of no confidence was adopted because Charrandas Persaud, a Member of Parliament of the governing party, inexplicably decided to vote against his own party. Afterwards, he suddenly left his country to seek a safe haven in Canada.
This whole drama demonstrates unequivocally that ExxonMobil and the US State Department are turning to manipulation and lies to fuel a war between the countries that make up “la madre America”.
On the other hand, although the Lima Group had decided not to recognize the legitimacy of the new presidential mandate of Nicolas Maduro, 2 member states of this Group –Guyana and Santa Lucía – have just accepted the letters of accreditation of the new ambassadors, emissi Venezuelae.