To Drum Up Patriotism, Maduro Revives Conflict with Guyana
By Onai
HAVANA TIMES – Essequibo is a territory of 159,000 square kilometers, which since 1897 has been disputed by the governments of Venezuela and Guyana, especially after, in 2015, the United States company Exxon Mobil discovered an important oil deposit.
“The Venezuelan government will not be an obstacle to any project to be carried out in Essequibo, and whose purpose is to benefit the inhabitants of the area”, (…) “the issue of Essequibo will be eliminated from the framework of social, political and economic relations of the two countries”, these were the words of Hugo Chávez during his official visit to Guyana in February 2004. And on repeated occasions the president declined any claim to the territory, in exchange for political favors from the government of Guyana.
But times have changed, the presidential elections in Venezuela are scheduled for the end of 2024. In them, Nicolas Maduro seeks re-election until 2030, but a couple of weeks ago a large part of the Venezuelan population showed the government their intention to vote for the opposition candidate. The PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) and its corrupt clique are teetering in power.
And now they dip into the nation’s coffers to hold a referendum on December 3rd that lacks logic, because they themselves, as the government and leading political party in the country, for more than 20 years, have refused to claim the territory of Essequibo.