President Nicolás Maduro said on Sunday that “earlier than ever” Guyana will have to “accept Venezuela’s sovereignty” on the rich territory disputed by both countries for over a century.
For the first time, Venezuela elected authorities to deal with issues related to Guyana Estaquiba, after approving a law that transforms this vast region into one of the 24 states of the country.
Venezuela and Guyana maintain a centenary dispute for the 160,000 km² of the Essiquibo region, which intensified in 2015 after the discovery of oil deposits by Exxonmobil.
Continues after advertising
Guyana has appealed to the highest court of the United Nations to ratify the borders defined in a 1899 report, which Venezuela does not recognize. Caracas invokes the Geneva Agreement, signed in 1966 before the Guyanese UK independence, which annulled this decision and established the foundations for a negotiated solution.
“Irfaan Ali, Guyana president, an exxonmobil employee, sooner or later he will have to sit with me to talk and accept Venezuelan sovereignty,” Maduro said after voting in Caracas in elections for governors and deputies of Parliament.
There he told AFP this week that he saw the election as a “threat” to his country, although he also put it in the context of Chavista “propaganda”.
Continues after advertising
The Venezuelan election provides for a governor, eight regional deputies and legislators for Essequibo. They are symbolic positions, as the area is under the control of Guyana.
“It is the birth of the new Venezuelan sovereignty,” he celebrated Maduro. “The Guyana Cooperative Republic has been an illegal occupant as an inheritance of the British Empire, who illegally occupied this territory.”
Maduro and there met on December 14, 2023, amid tension between the two countries, which raised alerts about a possible war conflict. Both pledged to seek diplomatic exits, although attacks through public statements are constant.
Continues after advertising
The International Court of Justice (CIJ) even asked for the suspension of these elections.
“That no one goes to the nose in this historical dispute,” said Maduro. “Now, with a governor there, with resources, budget and with all the support I will give, we will regain the Guyana Esequiba for the people.”
