GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – President David Granger Tuesday said that Venezuela is building up troops near the border with Guyana as the two countries continue to spar publicly about their centuries old border dispute.

“It is very provocative and we feel Venezuela is treading a very dangerous course at this point in time, rather than seeking a peaceful resolution to the matter Venezuela seems to be pursuing a very defensive and aggressive course,” President Granger told reporters.

“We have recently received reports that Venezuela has been making extraordinary military deployments in eastern Venezuela, that is western Guyana, which seem to be impacting on Guyana’s territorial defence,” he added.

Granger, a retired army Brigadier, who came to power early this year in the general election, said Guyana has every reason to believe that this “abnormal” military presence is a threat to Guyana’s territorial integrity and as such the government is preparing to take whatever actions are appropriate to protect its border.

“I have been in my earlier profession familiar with Venezuelan behaviour and what we have noticed during the month of September is an extraordinary escalation of Venezuelan military activity in eastern Venezuela,” he said.

Earlier this month, Granger met with a delegation from the United Nations on seeking a solution to the border dispute between the two countries.

The UN is hoping to broker a meeting with President Granger and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro on the margins of the UN General Assembly to be held later this month.