Venezuelans voted Sunday to claim sovereignty over the oil-rich Essequibo region in neighboring Guyana, escalating a long-standing territorial dispute between the countries centered on energy resources and sparking international concerns about annexation.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro touted the election results Sunday night as a “total success” for the country. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council claimed 10.5 million voters turned out and passed the five-question ballot with 95% approval, though those numbers were not independently verified, and the Associated Press reported that few voters were seen at polling sites across the country.
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Voters were asked if they supported the establishment of a new state in the Essequibo area and whether or not current and future residents there should be granted citizenship.
The referendum also touched off new fears about action from Caracas to reclaim the Essequibo territory, which is roughly 61,000 square miles and comprises two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass, as decided by international arbiters in 1899.
Both Venezuela and Guyana view the area as sovereign, and Guyana has argued any action from Venezuela to claim it would amount to annexation. Venezuela’s interest in the Essequibo region was revived in 2015 when Exxon Mobil discovered a massive offshore oil reserve in its waters. In the eight years since, some 46 offshore discoveries have been made, accounting for more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources.
Sunday’s vote was held at the express disapproval of the International Court of Justice, which ordered Maduro’s government Friday not to take any action that would alter Guyana’s control over the Essequibo region.
Maduro has repeatedly stated he would not accept interference from “third parties,” including international bodies such as the ICJ. The referendum even served as an attempted check on the ICJ, asking voters to approve of Venezuela’s “historical position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice” to settle the land controversy.
What’s next
It was not clear how Maduro’s government planned to enforce the results of the elections, though the next steps could be politically tricky for Venezuela.
In October, the United States agreed to ease sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sector temporarily for the first time since 2019. But the six-month sanctions relief is contingent upon Venezuela holding “free and fair” elections in 2024, and U.S. officials have warned they could be reinstated.
Venezuela has raced to ramp up its oil exports in the meantime and is producing 850,000 barrels of oil per day, the country’s oil minister said last week — roughly double the amount it was producing at the same time two years prior, when the U.S. sanctions were in full force.
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Meanwhile, Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali sought to assure residents they have “nothing to fear” and said in a speech Sunday that his government is working to make sure its borders “remain intact.”
“I want to advise Venezuela that this is an opportunity for them to show maturity, an opportunity for them to show responsibility, and we call upon them once more join us in ... allowing the rule of law to work and to determine the outcome of this controversy,” Ali said.