On Thursday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the deployment of the joint military exercise “Gen. Domingo Antonio Sifontes 2023” to protect the country’s territorial integrity in response to the UK’s threat with the arrival of the HMS Trent off the coast of Guyana.
During a year-end ceremony with officials from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), Maduro rejected the presence of the British vessel is a military threat and provocation by the United Kingdom against “the peaceful and noble, but also warrior, Venezuelan people.”
The acceptance of the British ship by the Guyanese government “is a breach of the Argyle Agreements,” which were signed on Dec. 14 and assumed as a roadmap to resolve the territorial dispute over the Essequibo between Venezuela and Guyana.
The Venezuelan president pointed out that his administration activated all political-diplomatic mechanisms to stop the arrival of the HMS Trent. However, Guyana decided to allow its entry.
“Venezuela will not stand idle in the face of any threat, no matter where it comes from. We do not accept provocations. Venezuela has the right to defend its integrity,” the Bolivarian leader emphasized.
Happy to Be in Venezuela, Happy to Help Venezuela, Says Alex Saab
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro shared this Thursday the third episode of “Maduro Podcast” with Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, recently released from kidnapping in the U.S.
Saab, accompanied by his wife Camila Fabri de Saab, expressed his gratitude to the Bolivarian government “for not getting tired when it was easy to get tired” and achieving his release from an unjust kidnapping of more than 1,280 days in a U.S. prison.
“I am happy to be back home, to see my family, to restart my life. It seems incredible that a few days ago I was still in a glass room, locked up. I am winning my daughter, the youngest, who does not know me. Happy to be in Venezuela, happy to help Venezuela and grateful to God, to life and to you,” he said.
Saab pointed out that “right-wing governments are used to the fact that the first thing they do when an official has a problem is to leave, but this has been a loyal government, a humane government, and that is why I never doubted that I would return”.
2024 To Be a Good Year for Venezuela: President Maduro
During the traditional Christmas Eve message, President Nicolas Maduro predicted that Venezuela would make strides in the development of its economy in 2024.
“Venezuela has not stopped and will never stop. We are moving forward with economic recovery and sustained progress, through our own efforts and the unity of all sectors of the national economy. 2024 will be a good year for the homeland,” he said.
In a video posted on social media, he summarized the growth achieved in various areas of the economy and the effort made by all economic agents to confront the U.S. coercive measures.
In recent years, Venezuela has generated new sources of income thanks to the Bolivarian Economic Agenda, which has allowed for the diversification of national production.
Venezuela Exports Gas to Trinidad and Tobago
The first license for the extraction, production and export of gas in “Campo Dragón” has been granted to the state-owned National Gas Company (NGC) of Trinidad and Tobago in partnership with the Dutch company Shell.
The signing of this license between the Minister of Petroleum and President of Petróleo de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), Pedro Rafael Tellechea, and the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries of Trinidad and Tobago, Stuart Young, took place on Thursday, December 21, in a ceremony headed by the Executive Vice-President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez. This consolidates a strategic gas alliance of international projection.
The license is for 30 years and will produce in the first phase some 185 million cubic feet per day of gas that will be transported in pipelines to supply the petrochemical market and gas plants in Trinidad and Tobago.
After six years of work to bring the project to fruition and achieve favorable conditions, Executive Vice President Rodríguez described the terms of the agreement as “extraordinary” for advancing the development of both countries.
She also highlighted that “for the first time Venezuela will produce and export gas.” In her opinion, this agreement is “a good example of what should be the relations of cooperation, friendship and brotherhood between our countries.”
President Maduro: In 2023 FANB carried out exercises to guarantee peace
During the year 2023, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) went from carrying out military training exercises, based on our doctrine, to joint operational exercises to ensure peace in the country and our territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Venezuelan President highlighted this Thursday.
In the end-of-year greeting activity to the FANB, the President explained that these operations and exercises have served to strengthen the defensive capabilities of our country against threats from foreign powers and irregular groups.
In this sense, he explained that during this year 18 military operations were carried out to combat illegal mining, the Armed Terrorist Drug Trafficking Groups of Colombia (TANCOL), and criminal organizations that lived in the country and within the national prison system.
“It has been a year of work, of success, of progress“, as it should be, the FANB in the full exercise of its constitutional functions,” said Maduro while calling on the members of the military institution to remain attached to what is established within the legal system in force in the country.
