Tensions over Essequibo region resurface as Venezuela completes a bridge to a disputed border base

Associated Press

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana’s government has formally protested to Venezuela following the completion by Venezuela’s armed forces of a bridge built on a remote river island shared by both countries. Work on the bridge, which links Venezuela’s mainland to a military base, has caused a decades-old row over border lines in the Essequibo region to flare up again. Guyana Foreign Minister Hugh Todd said in a statement that he was forced to summon Venezuelan Ambassador Amador Perez Silva to his office Thursday to condemn the decision by Venezuela to build the bridge. The bridge links Venezuela’s mainland to the eastern side of Ankoko island.