2023-12-06 02:38:33
After a non-binding referendum, authoritarian Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has underlined his country’s claim to part of the neighboring state of Guyana. According to a television report, the head of state announced at a government meeting on Tuesday that a Venezuelan state of Guayana Esequiba should be created and oil production licenses should be awarded for the region according to Venezuelan law. He also showed a new map for schools in the South American country, on which the disputed part of neighboring Guyana is designated as the 24th Venezuelan federal state.
According to the authoritarian government, a large part of Venezuela’s population supported the country’s claim to the resource-rich Essequibo region in the neighboring state of Guyana in a referendum at the weekend. Guyana’s government described the referendum as a threat to its security and peace. The approximately 160,00 square kilometer Essequibo area makes up around two thirds of Guyana’s territory.
The current borders of the area were established in 1899 by an arbitration award from a tribunal in Paris, initiated by the USA and Great Britain. Venezuela relies on an agreement with the United Kingdom from 1966 – a few months before the then colony of British Guiana became independent. This provided for a negotiated solution to the dispute. The border conflict worsened when large reserves of oil were found off the Atlantic coast of Essequibo in 2015. Guyana, one of the poorest countries in South America, granted production licenses to the US oil company Exxon Mobil.
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