Britain will deploy a naval ship off Guyana later this month, its ministry of defence said on Sunday, as the nation faces a border dispute with neighbor Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo region.

The deployment follows a visit by a British junior foreign minister to Guyana earlier this month, intended to offer the UK’s support for the country, an ally and former British colony.

Britain will deploy the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Trent, the ministry of defence said in a statement, without referring to Venezuela or the border dispute.

“HMS Trent will visit regional ally and Commonwealth partner Guyana later this month as part of a series of engagements in the region during her Atlantic Patrol Task deployment,” a spokesperson said.

Guyana and Venezuela agreed earlier this month to avoid any use of force and not to escalate tensions in the long-running dispute.

Voters in Venezuela rejected the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) jurisdiction over the dispute with Guyana and backed the creation of a new state in the potential oil-rich Esequibo region in early December.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government went ahead with a five-question “consultative” referendum, days after the ICJ barred Venezuela from taking any actions that would change the status quo on the ground.

All questions passed with more than 95% approval, according to electoral authority president Elvis Amoroso, who said at least 10.5 million votes were cast for ‘yes’ but did not confirm the number of voters.

Some political and security analysts have called the referendum a show of strength by Maduro and a test of support for his government ahead of a planned 2024 presidential election.

The 160,000-square-km (62,000-square-mile) Essequibo region is generally recognised as part of Guyana, but in recent years Venezuela has revived its claim to the territory and to offshore areas after major oil and gas discoveries.

-Reuters