US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Venezuela that any attempt to invade Guyana or threaten Exxon Mobil Corp.’s operations in the country would be a “very bad move.”

Even though the MoU was focused on tackling international crime and deter drug trafficking in the Caribbean region, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took the chance to warn Venezuela about meddling with Guyana.

Guyana and Venezuela are locked in a long-running dispute about which country has rights over the 160,000-square-km (62,000-square-mile) Esequibo area, which is the subject of an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice.