evidence: Annexation of Ankoko Island Five months after Guyana's independence from the United Kingdom, Venezuelan troops began their occupation of Ankoko island and surrounding islands in October 1966. Venezuelan troops quickly constructed military installations and an airstrip.[38] Subsequently, on the morning of the 14 October 1966, Forbes Burnham, as Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs of Guyana, dispatched a protest to the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, es (Ignacio Iribarren Borges), demanding the immediate withdrawal of Venezuelan troops and the removal of installations they had established.[39] Venezuelan minister Ignacio Iribarren Borges replied stating "the Government of Venezuela rejects the aforementioned protest, because Anacoco Island is Venezuelan territory in its entirety and the Republic of Venezuela has always been in possession of it".[39] The island remained under Venezuelan administration, where a Venezuelan airport and a military base operated.[40]