Guyana accuses Venezuela of 'aggressive behaviour' near border area

"We have noticed during the month of September an extraordinary escalation of Venezuelan military activity in eastern Venezuela," Granger said at his Georgetown office.

"It is a persistence of aggressive behaviour, hostile behaviour towards Guyana," he said, adding the deployment was "mostly marine and various forms of ground forces." He did not provide further details.

A Venezuelan Foreign Ministry official said there was no immediate comment.

Granger's announcement comes amid a spike in tensions over a centuries-old territorial dispute between the South American neighbours that has been revived after an oil discovery.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described newly-elected Granger as a "hostage of Exxon Mobil," which discovered the oil in a potential boon for poor Guyana, whose economy relies heavily on rice, gold, diamonds and bauxite.

Many in Guyana, a small nation of 800,000 people sandwiched between Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname on the shoulder of South America, counter that their larger neighbour is seeking to lay hands on its newfound oil wealth.

Maduro's critics say he is using the border dispute - as well as a more recent one with Colombia - to distract voters from high inflation, a severe recession and rampant crime ahead of December's parliamentary elections.

The leftist leader has deployed troops to municipalities near the Colombian border amid what he calls a crackdown on smuggling.

Price-fixed goods ranging from flour to gasoline are also smuggled over the border to Guyana, where they can be sold for a handsome profit.

(Reporting by Neil Marks; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Alan Crosby)