Maduro dismisses Guyanese president's statements as "insults" to Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Tuesday night rejected statements made by his Guyanese counterpart David Granger by saying Granger doesn't represent the interests of his people but those of the U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil.

"The Guyanese president is a provoker that now wants to insult Venezuela. I will continue to make important decisions to neutralize and defeat his defiant attitude," Maduro said at the graduation of over 1,000 new military officials.

Maduro also said Granger is trying to "divide" the Caribbean and its nations to "please" ExxonMobil and political groups in Washington.

On Monday, Maduro decided to recall the Venezuelan ambassador to Guyana while reviewing Venezuela's relations with the country. Both countries are engaged in a century-old territorial dispute over the land west of Guyana's Essequibo River that resurfaced after an oil discovery by ExxonMobil.

The dispute stems from an 1899 court ruling that required Venezuela to relinquish an undeveloped but resource-rich jungle territory called the Essequibo that constitutes about two thirds of Guyanese territory.

Caracas contends the ruling was invalid, and many official maps still describe the Essequibo as Venezuelan territory.

Responding to Venezuela's recall of its ambassador, Granger said on Tuesday that "Instead of having a more friendly and conciliatory attitude, Maduro is behaving in a rude way by escalating tensions that aggravate the poor relations between Venezuela and the Community of Caribbean States."

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