Security & Strategic Review - June 2016 (ISSN 1741-4202)

An incident on 30 May in which Venezuelan troops allegedly fired at officials from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), who were in a boat on the Cuyuni River, has revived fears of a possible attempt by Venezuela to grab disputed territory from Guyana. The possibility still seems remote, but not out of the question given Venezuela’s ever-deepening domestic crisis and the discovery last year of significant oil reserves by Exxon-Mobil in Guyanese territorial waters that are claimed by Venezuela.