Venezuelan aircraft include the territory of Guyana on the poster

Military aircraft of the Venezuelan Armed Forces showed a poster showing a map of the country with the addition of the Essequibo region in Guyana. The Venezuelan people will vote on Sunday (December 3, 2023) in a referendum that will discuss the annexation of 74% of the neighboring country.

It was the video subscriber On the Instagram profile of the Venezuelan Air Force. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that the referendum would be held in November. Defends annexation.

Guyana criticized this attempt. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations judicial body in The Hague, decided on Friday (December 1, 2023) that Venezuela could not take this action.

Reproduction / Instagram @comgral_amb – 2.dec.2023

Poster on an aircraft of the Venezuelan Armed Forces with a map of the country attached to the territory of Guyana

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The country’s armed forces aircraft included the phrase “All of Venezuela“, referring to the disputed area.

Understand the issue

The dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the Essequibo region has continued for more than a century. The area of ​​the site is 160,000 square kilometers and represents 74% of the territory of the neighboring country. It is rich in oil and minerals and has access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for a referendum on the annexation of the region. He said the Venezuelans will decide “Democratically your future and your destiny”.

“On a day that calls on all of us, beyond differences, to defend our lands and respect our sovereignty. Essequibo from Venezuela!The head of the executive branch announced.

The Government of Guyana designated the measure as “Provocative, illegal, void and devoid of any international legal effect”. The Venezuelan president was also accused of committing an international crime by attempting to weaken the territorial integrity of the sovereign state of Guyana. here complete Statement (PDF – 19 KB).

The country defends the Washington Treaty of 1897 and the Paris Report of 1899, which defined the territory as belonging to Guyana, which was a British colony at the time, and defined the territory’s boundary line.

“For more than 6 decades, the border has been internationally recognized, accepted and respected by Venezuela, Guyana and the international community as the land border between the two countries.”The country’s government said.

Guyana’s economy

Guyana has an area of ​​214,969 square kilometers and a population of 800,000. The official languages ​​are English and regional languages. The currency is the Guyanese dollar.

The country’s wealth has grown because of the oil found in the tropical margin. It is expected to become a new oil power in the region. It is estimated that the total oil at the site is 14.8 billion barrels. This volume is equivalent to 75% of Brazil’s total oil reserves.

Guyana’s GDP is expected to grow by 29% in 2023, according to World Bank forecasts released in October this year. This will be the highest performance among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The entity’s data shows that the South American country grew by 43.5% in 2020, 20.1% in 2021, and 63.4% in 2022. complete (PDF – 6 MB).

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Appreciation 38.4% growth in the country’s GDP in 2023

date

The first settlers in the area were the Spanish who arrived in the area in 1499. In the 16th century, Guyana came under Dutch control. According to the Contemporary Portal on Latin America and the Caribbean from the University of the South Pacific (University of São Paulo), the Dutch believed that El Dorado could be located in the region – a legend that said there was a city with an abundance of gold.

In 1616 the first Dutch fort was built in Essequibo. The place will also serve as a commercial center run by the Dutch West India Company. The Dutch colony then began to take the export of sugar and tobacco as its economic base.

With the introduction of an extensive irrigation system in the 18th century, Guyana expanded the number of agricultural lands, attracting English settlers from the Caribbean islands.

The population of British descent outnumbered the Dutch in the region at the end of the eighteenth century, and with the French Revolution and France’s expansion into Europe, the Dutch decided to hand over part of their colonies to English administration to protect themselves from possible French attacks. to intervene. .

In 1814, the colonies of Esquipa, Demerara, and Berbice were officially transferred to England under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty. The territory’s name was changed to British Guiana in 1931. The country declared independence in 1966, but remained part of the British Commonwealth – a group of former British colonies.

Mature

Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, 60, presides over an authoritarian regime that does not guarantee basic freedoms.

For example, he keeps people in prison because of what he considers to be the case “Political crimes”.

There are also limitations described in reports of the Organization of American States (about “Illegitimate appointment” National Electoral Council by an illegal national association) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (of October 2022in November 2022 It’s from March 2023).