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.
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.
Paraguay and Venezuela agreed on Wednesday to resume diplomatic ties cut under former Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez in January 2019. At that time, the then-president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself president of a government that ended up in exile despite the backing of the international community and eventually vanished like a soap bubble.
Thousands of Venezuelans voted this Sunday in the opposition primaries in the hope of a change of president in 2024, a long race that citizens opposed to chavismo took on with enthusiasm, with the purpose of voting. Liberal María Corina Machado, a pariah of the Venezuelan opposition for the past decade, is now emerging as a strong favorite.
The agreement signed Tuesday in Barbados between the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro and the main opposition leaders has been welcomed by the European Union, the United States, Brazil, and Argentina among other players on the world stage.
Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday announced after meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro that relations between both countries would be strengthened to the point where the South American nation would become an all-weather strategic level, it was reported from Beijing.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado Tuesday asked the Brazilian Senate's Public Security Committee through a video appearance to help the Caribbean country hold fair primary elections. Machado also denounced the attacks by Nicolás Maduro's regime and insisted she intended to run despite her disenfranchisement.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro told Chinese media during the weekend that he wanted the South American country to join the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) as a way to consolidate ties between the Asian giant and Latin America and the Caribbean, it was reported in Beijing. Venezuela has already expressed its interest in joining BRICS formally.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Secretary-General Huang Kunming met Saturday at a hotel in the city of Shenzhen, in the province of Canton, to exchange experiences in the political area, as well as to strengthen the bonds of integration and mutual respect, it was informed from Caracas by the Presidency's press office.