CARACAS, April 4. /TASS/. The United States has installed secret bases in Guyana Essequibo, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said in a live broadcast on Venezolana de Television on Wednesday.

"We have confirmation that secret bases of the [United States] Southern Command and the CIA have been installed in the Guyana Essequibo region to prepare attacks on the population of southern and eastern Venezuela," Maduro said at the promulgation of the Organic Law for the Defense of Guyana Essequibo, which recognizes the region as part of Venezuela.

The Venezuelan president said that Guyana was under control of the US Southern Command, the Central Intelligence Agency and ExxonMobil rather than its president Irfaan Ali. "We should always be ready to protect peace and Venezuela’s territorial integrity," Maduro underscored.