Our British warship puts Venezuela on high alert over an oil-rich region.

It's laid claim to.

Hello, you're listening to the Marketplace Morning Report.

Live from the BBC World Service, I'm Leanna Byrne and a very good morning to you.

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro has ordered his military to conduct exercises

along the country's eastern Caribbean and Atlantic coast. This is in response to a British decision to

send a warship to support Guyana. The UK government took the decision after

Venezuela renewed claims to Esquebo, an oil-rich area that makes up a big part of its neighbor, Guyana's

territory.

Mr Maduro made the announcement on television.

I have ordered the activation of a joint action of the entire Bolivarian National

Military Force on the Eastern Caribbean and Atlantic coast,

a joint action of a defensive nature

in response to the provocation and threat of the United Kingdom

against the peace and sovereignty of our country.

Nicholas Maduro there, a recent referendum suggested that 95% of voters were in favour of

establishing a new Venezuelan state in the territory.

The BBC's Will Grant reports.

In a televised meeting of Venezuela's joint military chiefs,

President Maduro called the deployment of the British warship,

HMS Trent, off Guyana's coast, practically a military threat by

London.

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