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.
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.
Guyana has asked the UN's highest court to stop a Venezuelan referendum on the annexation of the Esequibo, half of its territory and its oil-rich offshore, a claim going back to colonial times.
At least 14 migrants were killed in a fire in the town of Coronel, some 530 kilometers south of Santiago, in the region of Biobio, it was reported Monday.
The Electoral branch of Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ) has annulled the opposition's Oct. 22 primaries whereby María Corina Machado had been chosen to take on President Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 elections. The Court argued that Machado had been disenfranchised for 15 years in addition to fraud allegations affecting the process, it was reported in Caracas.