President Maduro Referendum Victory in Venezuela: Annexing Essequibo

AFPAlso President Maduro cast his vote

NOS News•today, 07:42•Changed today, 08:14

In Venezuela, a referendum on annexing an oil-rich border region has ended in a victory for the ‘yes’ camp. According to the electoral council, about 95 percent of the votes cast were in favor of annexing Essequibo, which is located in Guyana. However, there are questions about the turnout.

There has been a conflict about the border area, which is four times larger than the Netherlands and where more than 100,000 people live, since the 18th century. Venezuela says Essequibo belongs to them, but Guyana considers the area its own. In 1899, an international arbitration committee ruled that the area belonged to Guyana, but Venezuela has always resisted that ruling. The International Court of Justice warned Venezuela on Friday that the country should not take steps that would change the current situation.

The conflict remained dormant for a long time. Until 2015, large oil reserves were found in the area: more than 11 billion barrels. President Maduro of Venezuela set his sights on the area and announced a referendum. In this way he wanted to increase the pressure on Guyana to give up the area.

It is unknown what Maduro will do with this result. In the much smaller Guyana they are concerned. They wonder what they can do as a small country compared to the mighty Venezuela. Guyanese Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo thinks that Maduro mainly wants to use the referendum to score political points: there will be elections next year.

2023-12-04 06:42:59
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