5 questions to ask Venezuelans if they support the claim of a huge territory in dispute with another country.
That is what the government of Venezuela plans this Sunday, December 3, when it calls a referendum on the future of the Essequiboa territory controlled by Guyana but that Caracas considers as its own.
Venezuelans will attend a referendum without international legal validity to support or not the government’s proposals. Nicolas Madurowhich include the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state as part of Venezuelan territory, as well as a plan to grant Venezuelan citizenship to its inhabitants.
“Recover Guyana Essequiba “It is a mission of the people, it is a mission of the country,” said President Maduro on November 8, giving new vigor to a claim of almost two centuries.
But for Guyana there is nothing to discuss and it has asked its citizens not to allow themselves to be “instilled in fear” by events in the neighboring country.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Venezuela this Friday to “refrain from any action that alters the situation that prevails in the disputed territory, which is that Guyana administers and exercises control over the area,” although it did not prohibit the holding of the referendum. , as requested by Guyana.
As Venezuelans prepare for a vote that Guyana has denounced as a existential threatwe summarize the dispute between both South American countries and explain why the referendum is controversial.
1. What is Essequibo
Essequibo – also known as Guayana Esequiba – is a territory west of the Essequibo River, in northern South America, comprising 159,000 square kilometers rich in natural and forest resources.
It is home to six of the ten regions that make up the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, as well as a third of its 800,000 inhabitants.
“Essequibo is a territory three times larger than Costa Rica, where almost 300,000 people live,” Guyanese geographer Temitope Oyedotun, professor at the University of Guyana, tells BBC Mundo.
2. Why territory is so important
The Essequibo is located in the heart of the Guiana Shield, a geographical region in the northeast of South America that, in addition to being one of the oldest formations on Earth, is mined for natural and mineral resources.
According to Venezuelan geographer Reybert Carrillo, the territory shares similar characteristics with its neighbor Arco Minero del Orinoco, an exploitation area of more than 111,800 square kilometers that It has large reserves of gold, copper, diamondiron, bauxite and aluminum, among other minerals.
In Essequibo is the Omai gold mine, one of the largest in the Guyana Shield and one of Guyana’s largest sources of income.
Between 1993 and 2005 alone, Omai produced more than 3.7 million ounces of gold.
But in the territorial waters of the disputed area there is also a immense oil wealth.
From 2015 to date, the multinational ExxonMobil and its partners have made 46 discoveries that have raised Guyana’s oil reserves to around 11,000 million barrels, representing about 0.6% of the world total.
Most of the reserves are located in a 26,000 square kilometer oil and gas block known as Stabroek, off the country’s Atlantic coast, which lies partially in the territorial waters of the region disputed by Venezuela.
The unexpected findings have made Guyana, a country of 800,000 inhabitants, become one of the fastest growing economies in the world and its GDP is expected to grow 25% this year, after having expanded 57.8% in 2022.
In addition to mineral resources, Essequibo has important water resources.
“There is an extensive network of rivers such as Cuyuní, Mazaruní, Kuyuwini, Potaro, Rupununi,” explains geographer Temitope Oyedotun, from the University of Guyana.
For Reybert Carrillo, this will be the most important resource in the region in several decades.
3. What is the origin of the dispute and why did it worsen?
When Spain founded the Captaincy General of Venezuela, Essequibo was part of the territorial sub-entity and after obtaining its independence in 1811, Venezuela was left with control of its sovereignty.
But the situation began to get complicated when The United Kingdom signed a pact with the Netherlands to acquire around 51,700 square kilometers in eastern Venezuela.
The treaty did not define the western border of what would become British Guiana and that is why London appointed the explorer in 1840 Robert Schomburgk to define it.
Shortly after, the “Schomburgk Line“, a route that claimed nearly 80,000 additional square kilometers.
Four decades later, a new version of the Schomburgk Line was published that claimed even more territory.
In 1895, the United States intervened under the Monroe Doctrine after denouncing that the border had been expanded in a “mysterious manner” and recommended that the dispute be resolved in international arbitration.
In 1899 the Paris Arbitration Awarda ruling favorable to the United Kingdom with which the territory is officially under British rule.
But four decades later, a memorandum by American lawyer Severo Mallet-Prevost – part of Venezuela’s defense in the Paris Arbitration Award – was made public, in which he denounced that the award was a political compromise and that the judges were not impartial.
The revelations of Severo Mallet-Prevost and other documents helped Venezuela declare the award “null and void” and reactivate its claim.
Three months before granting independence to Guyana in 1966, the United Kingdom made an agreement with Venezuela on Geneva Agreement that recognizes Venezuela’s claim and seeks to find satisfactory solutions to resolve the dispute.
Between 1982 and 1999, both countries tried to resolve the dispute through the UN good offices mechanism, which never produced concrete results.
During the government of Hugo Chávez the dispute was archived, in part due to the good relations between the late Venezuelan president and Georgetown.
But this changed when dozens of oil deposits began to be discovered in coastal areas of the disputed area in 2015.
Tensions between Venezuela and Guyana have progressively increased since then.
Now, however, the interests of the Maduro government are not only economic, but also political.
Critics claim that the referendum has a nationalist overtone at a time when presidential elections will be held in 2024 and shortly after the opposition primaries, in which Maria Corina Machado as Maduro’s rival.
The ruling party has called several “national unity” demonstrations to “defend” Essequibo and is trying to get figures from the entertainment world to get involved in the dispute. The call is national union.
“It is time to put aside all biases, political, religious or personal,” asked the president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Jorge Rodriguez.
4. What is asked in the referendum
In mid-September, the Venezuelan Parliament, with a Chavista majority, proposed organizing a referendum to consult Venezuelans about the country’s “rights” over the Essequibo.
A month later, the government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the referendum would take place on December 3.
According to the Guyanese government, the referendum represents a threat to the territorial integrity of Guyana and has asked the International Court of Justice in The Hague to arrest him.
But Venezuela has assured that “nothing will prevent” its organization.
The referendum in question consists of five questions, for which the government asks for five yeses:
- Do you agree to reject, by all means, in accordance with the law, the line fraudulently imposed by the Paris Arbitration Award of 1899, which seeks to deprive us of our Guayana Esequiba?
- Do you support the 1966 Geneva Agreement as the only valid legal instrument to reach a practical and satisfactory solution for Venezuela and Guyana regarding the controversy over the territory of Guayana Esequiba?
- Do you agree with Venezuela’s historical position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to resolve the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba?
- Do you agree to oppose, by all means, in accordance with the law, Guyana’s claim to unilaterally dispose of a sea pending delimitation, illegally and in violation of international law?
- Do you agree with the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state and the development of an accelerated plan for comprehensive care for the current and future population of that territory, which includes, among others, the granting of citizenship and a Venezuelan identity card, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement and International Law, consequently incorporating said state on the map of Venezuelan territory?
In early November, President Maduro began a campaign that he described as “pedagogical, joyful and inclusive” in view of the referendum, which includes televised history lessons offered by himself, as well as rallies in various parts of the country in which leaflets are distributed. to the rhythm of reggaeton.
His administration is encouraging voters to answer “yes” to all questions, but has not detailed how it would create the state if voters approve its proposals.
5. What the governments of each country say
For Caracas it is about “recovering” a territory that it has always seen as its own.
Venezuela considers that the Essequibo River in the east of the region is a natural border recognized at the time of independence from Spain.
But Guyana alleges that the matter was settled with the Paris Arbitration Award of 1899.
However, Caracas affirms that this sentence is null due to the irregularities found in the decision and also rejects any interference by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the matter. In April of this year the ICJ declared itself competent to hear the case, although any ruling could take years.
Venezuela does not recognize that the ICJ has jurisdiction. It only recognizes the Geneva Agreement as the only valid instrument to resolve the conflict and says that the dispute must be resolved between both countries.
Georgetown sees the December 3 referendum as a “sinister plan by Venezuela to seize Guyanese territory” and says it is considering “all options” to defend him.
the vice president Bharrat Jagdeo At the end of November, he announced a visit to the country by officials from the United States Department of Defense and did not rule out the establishment of foreign military bases in Guyanese territory.
“We are going to work with our allies to ensure that we plan for all eventualities (…) We were never interested in military bases, but we have to protect our national interest,” he assured.
Maduro, who is inflexible in his new mission, affirms that the different political and social sectors of his country are united in defense of Essequibo and has offered speeches with the Armed Forces about the dispute.
Your Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino Lópezstated on November 24 that the dispute “It is not an armed war, for now”but accused the president of Guyana, Irfaan Alito provoke Venezuela with recent appearances from the disputed territory dressed as a military man and surrounded by the army.
Analysts anticipate massive support for the Venezuelan government’s proposals, in a country where the Essequibo claim effectively unites Chavistas and opponents like no other issue.
The referendum result will not be binding under international law, but many fear a further escalation.
“Let no one make a single mistake. The Essequibo is ours, every square centimeter,” the president of Guyana has warned, specifying that Georgetown will not give up even an “inch” of territory.
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