During September 2015, when Venezuela flexed its military muscles near the border with Guyana, that country’s military patrol boats blatantly breached Guyana’s sovereignty by traversing the Cuyuni River at locations between its junctions with the Acarabisi River (to the east) and the Wenamu River (to the west). Guyana owns this entire section of the Cuyuni River, which forms part of the border with Venezuela.
On September 23, the head of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Mark Phillips, confirmed that the Venezuelans were using military boats in the Cuyuni River to shuttle troops between the village of San Martin on the northern bank to the Venezuelan-occupied Guyanese section of Ankoko Island. This action, he emphasized, was “an affront to our sovereignty.”
While it is normal for Venezuelan civilians residing on the northern bank of the river to use it for basic transportation and for domestic purposes, by international law Venezuelan military forces can enter the river east of the Wenamu only with the permission of the Guyana government.
Venezuela has flouted this requirement and over the years its military patrol boats have been using the river as if it is part of Venezuelan domain.