Venezuela seeks to reinforce its territorial claim with Guyana in a referendum

Venezuela celebrates this Sunday a consultative referendum with which the government seeks to strengthen a century-old claim over Essequibo, an oil-rich territory under the control of Guyanawho asked his neighbor to act with “maturity and responsibility.”

Some 20.7 million Venezuelans, out of a population of almost 30, are called to vote. The non-binding consultation is not about self-determination, since this 160,000 km2 territory is under the administration of Guyana and its 125,000 inhabitants do not vote.

The result will not have concrete consequences in the short term: Venezuela It seeks to reinforce its credibility and vindicate its claim and has denied that it is an excuse to invade and forcibly annex the area, as the Guyanese fear.

“We are convinced that Essequibo is ours, it has been ours all our lives”said Mariela Camero, 68, among the first to vote in a popular area of ​​Caracas. “We will continue our fight, fighting with votes,” said Soraida Ramos, 62, for her part.

President Nicolás Maduro, who is seeking re-election in 2024, voted first at his center located in a military fort. “Today we are voting like Venezuela for a single color, a single feeling. “Our vote is to make Venezuela respected,” he told reporters after voting, accompanied by senior members of the government.

Venezuela argues that the Essequibo River It is the natural border, as it was in 1777 when he was Captain General of the Spanish Empire.

It appeals to the Geneva Agreement, signed in 1966 before Guyana’s independence from the United Kingdom, which laid the foundations for a negotiated solution and annulled an 1899 award, which defined the limits that Guyana defends and that asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations, to ratify.

Guyana’s president, Irfaan Ali, who unsuccessfully asked the ICJ to suspend the referendum, told his countrymen that they had no “nothing left to fear”.

“We are working tirelessly to ensure that our borders remain intact and that the population and our country remain safe”he said in a broadcast on Facebook.

“I want to warn Venezuela that this is an opportunity for them to show maturity and (…) responsibility,” he added.

“Common sense”

Venezuela’s claim has intensified since the American energy giant ExxonMobil discovered oil in disputed waters in 2015, which today places it with oil reserves comparable to those of Kuwait and tops the list of reserves per capita in the world.

Maduro does not spare insults for Ali, whom he criticized for “arrogant, arrogant, warlike position” about the topic. In addition to the harsh statements, there have been troop movements, military exercises and talks about the installation of US bases in Guyana.

Thousands of Guyanese formed human chains on Sunday, called “uniting circles”, to show their attachment to the region. Many wore t-shirts with phrases like “The Essequibo belongs to Guyana” and they waved the country’s flags.

“The referendum is probably significant for them, not for us”said Dilip Singh, a businessman who participated in one of these demonstrations in the province of Pomeroon-Supenaam, located in the disputed area.

“We don’t have the weapons, the warships. “We have God and he will protect us.”he continued.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has reinforced his troops on the border, said Sunday that he hoped “may common sense prevail on the side of Venezuela and Guyana.”

The referendum consists of five questions, including rejection of the 1899 award and the jurisdiction of the ICJ, as well as support for the Agreement of Geneva of 1966. He also asks if they agree to create a Venezuelan province called “Guiana Essequiba” and grant nationality to its inhabitants.

The Venezuelan government maintains that the result, which will be without room for doubt in favor of the five yeses, will strengthen its position in the claim to sovereignty. “The first effect that the powerful voice must have in the national union of Venezuela is to seat the president of Guyana and return to the Geneva Agreement and the mechanisms of peaceful negotiation”Maduro insisted.