The situation is escalating: how the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana could affect the war in Ukraine

Venezuela wants to annex the territory of Guyana / Collage 24 Channel

A new hot spot may appear on the world map if tensions between Venezuela and Guyana over disputed territory enter a hot phase. Russia can take advantage of this conflict in South America.

Political scientist Andrei Vigirinsky told Channel 24 about this, noting that the United States cannot leave its ally, Guyana, without support. However, Washington's possibilities, although great, are not limitless.

Trying to combine cases

Guyana, on whose side the United States and Brazil may act, if the situation escalates, will require protection in the form of finances and presumably the supply of military equipment, depending on which contingent will participate in the conflict on the part of Venezuela.

Supplies to Guyana from one donor – the United States – will compete with aid to Ukraine, Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan. The resources of the United States are great, but not unlimited,” the political scientist emphasized.

In addition, US diplomatic efforts will be defocused not only on the Middle East and the European Union, but also on Latin America.

“When there are more hot spots in the world, they can, relatively speaking, be collected into a single case for the upcoming negotiations. This is what Russia and its allies tried to do several years ago, combining the cases of Syria and Ukraine during negotiations with the United States. Moscow made an attempt come to an understanding with the West through the exchange of strategic interests,” Vigirinsky recalled.

How the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana could affect US support for Ukraine: watch the video

Possible reputational losses

At the same time, the United States is aware that if it does not provide assistance to one of its allies, this could lead to its reputational losses and then to the instability of alliances.

However, American think tanks note that the greatest strength of the United States is its bilateral international agreements for mutual understanding, assistance and cooperation, which allow the United States to obtain cheap raw materials. And in Guyana there are mineral deposits developed by the American company ExxonMobil,” the political scientist noted.

It is important that if the confrontation between Venezuela and Guyana escalates into an armed conflict, then it could directly affect the interests of the United States, because these countries belong to Washington’s “security belt.”

“In this case, the United States will have to choose priorities, and the focus of their attention may shift towards the region located in close proximity to them. This may affect the level of support for Ukraine from the United States,” Andrei Vigirinsky emphasized.

More about the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana

• The conflict between the countries arose over the disputed territory of Essequibo, which belongs to Guyana and has large deposits of useful mines. This conflict has been going on for more than a hundred years, and is now entering a hot phase.
• Its latest aggravation occurred in 2015, when the American oil company ExxonMobil discovered oil fields in Essequibo.
• In Venezuela, on December 3, a referendum was held, initiated by the country's President Nicolas Maduro, on the annexation of this territory. One of the issues voted for in the referendum was the recognition of Venezuelan sovereignty over Essequibo.