Top US diplomat Marco Rubio on Thursday bluntly warned Venezuela against attacking its oil-rich neighbor Guyana, brandishing the power of the US military to protect the small South American nation.
Venezuela, whose leftist leader Nicolas Maduro is despised by the Cuban-American Rubio, has increasingly pushed its claim to the disputed Essequibo region controlled by Guyana, and was accused earlier this month of making an incursion.
“I have full confidence saying it now as secretary of state – there will be consequences for adventurism. There will be consequences for aggressive action,” Rubio told a joint news conference on a visit to Guyana.
Asked what the United States would do if Venezuela attacked ExxonMobil oil projects in Guyana, Rubio said: “It would be a very bad day – a very bad week for them.”
Stopping short of spelling out a military response, Rubio said: “We have a big navy, and it can get almost anywhere.”
Maduro responded angrily to the threat, calling Rubio an “imbecile” and saying “no one threatens Venezuela.”
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