Venezuela can just claim that it happened in Venezuelan territorial waters. It’s the China playbook and it’s not entirely invalid. Veneuzuela’s claim on the Essequibo is pretty strong, but Britain wants to avoid setting the precedent that their colonial-era borders are invalid.
It’s, like, a counter-piracy boat 😆 I’m sure Venezuela is quaking in its boots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Trent_(P224)
The problem would be accidentally shooting at it or getting into any other crufuffle with it.
Venezuela can just claim that it happened in Venezuelan territorial waters. It’s the China playbook and it’s not entirely invalid. Veneuzuela’s claim on the Essequibo is pretty strong, but Britain wants to avoid setting the precedent that their colonial-era borders are invalid.