Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Tuesday announced the creation of a military division for the Guiana Essequiba area, which the country claims as its own, particularly after Sunday's referendum, it was reported in Caracas. The Essequibo is home to 125,000 of Guyana's 800,000 citizens.
Although Venezuela does not have since 1899 the effective control of the Essequibo area disputed with Guyana, President Nicolás Maduro announced Tuesday that he planned to grant oil-drilling licenses after Sunday's referendum recognized the South American country's alleged rights over the territory.
Despite a poor turnout, Venezuelan authorities Sunday confirmed 95.93% of 10,554,320 voting Venezuelans replied aye in a non-binding referendum to the question of whether or not to annex the Essequiba Guiana, a 160,000 square-kilometer region the country claims as its own but which has been under Guyanan control for over a century.
Venezuela will press on with a weekend referendum over the fate of a vast disputed area in the Esequibo region it claims, disputing neighboring Guyana's jurisdiction, despite the UN International Court of Justice, ICJ, Friday ruling urging restraint in the dispute.
Brazil announced “intensified defensive actions” along its northern border fearing a possible invasion of Guyana by the dictatorial regime of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. This Friday the UN International Court is expected to halt a referendum, on a disputed area between the two neighbors, which is seen as an exercise in forced annexation by Venezuela.
Control Ciudadano (Social Watch - CC) Chairwoman Rocío San Miguel said Guyanese President Irfaan Alí's recent statements regarding the military support of several countries to defend the Essequibo amounted to a “very strong warning for Venezuela,” which will hold a referendum on the matter on Dec. 3.
By Gwynne Dyer – Guyana is not a “hellhole country” of the sort Donald Trump complained about when he said he wanted immigrants to come to the US from white places like Norway instead, but it did used to be poor, tropical and largely populated by people of color.
Activists were not entirely satisfied with Friday's apology speech by a descendant of former British Prime Minister and slave exploiter/trader William Gladstone at the University of Guyana and insisted reparations worth around US$ 1.2 trillion were due as messages along the lines of “our ancestors deserve real justice” became rife.
After the Summit of South American leaders in Brasilia, the 11 attending presidents reached a consensus on cooperation and integration in the region.
At least 20 people were killed and several more were injured in a fire that started around midnight Sunday in a student dormitory at a secondary school in Mahdia, southwest of the city of Georgetown, it was reported.