2023-12-08 19:53:52
The tension between Venezuela y Guyana for him Essequibo, a disputed area of 160,000 km2 with great natural resources, wood and minerals, is no longer a strictly bilateral problem. He UN Security Council The conflict is being discussed behind closed doors this Friday at a request from the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, who described the action plan designed by Caracas on that disputed area “an imminent threat” for its territorial integrity. The request to that UN body for “precautionary measures” coincides with a double movement: on the one hand, an air exercise by the United States Southern Command in Guyana and, at the same time, the announcement made from Moscow that Nicolás Maduro will soon meet with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin.
The regional fear that an armed conflict breaks out The president of Brazil himself hinted at it, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who, at the closing of the Mercosur summit on Thursday, asked the member countries (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia) and the region itself to make a greater effort to avoid this outcome. “What we don’t want is a war. Only with peace can we generate wealth and improve the lives of our people.”
Venezuela has claimed Essequibo since the late 19th century and there is UN arbitration on the case. Hugo Chavez He put that demand on hold when he was also trying to be a leader of the Caribbean. The interest in the Miraflores Palace was reactivated after the discovery in 2015 of an oil reserve almost equivalent to that of Brazil in the sea off its coasts. The American company ExxonMobil began exploitation four years ago. That’s what it meant this year. a growth of its economy of 38%. It is estimated that the increase in the GDP of that country of about 800,000 inhabitants could grow by 115% in the next five years.
New tensions
Tensions increased after a controversial popular consultation in which half of the electoral roll participated and which in one of its points raised the possibility of annexing the disputed territory. Venezuela has already incorporated Guayana Esequiba into its maps and urged the state oil company PDVSA to grant exploitation licenses in that territory. Madurismo proposes granting Venezuelan nationality to the 125,000 inhabitants who live in that area.
“This is a direct threat to territorial integritythe sovereignty and political independence of Guyana,” Ali said, and activated the demand before the Security Council for “appropriate measures” to be adopted.maximum alert” of the Defense Force.
Moscow enters the scene
With that background, Maduro is preparing to get on a plane to Moscow. “We have long agreed on the possibility of Mr. Maduro’s visit to Moscow in December of this year,” said the Kremlin’s international adviser, Yuri Ushakov. “We assume that this matter is part of the relations between Venezuela and Guyana and must be resolved in a spirit of good neighborliness through mutually acceptable peaceful solutions“said María Zajárova, Foreign Ministry spokesperson. For the newspaper Sheet of Saint Paul”The trip introduces Russia, an adversary of the United States, into the South American crisis“.
The rightist Maria Corina Machadowho aspires to lead the opposition in the elections scheduled for the second half of 2024, expressed his concern before the European Parliament subcommittee for relations with Mercosur that Maduro “use the escalation of war with Guyana as an excuse to get off the electoral route“. Machado has been disqualified by the Comptroller’s Office from running for elective office, but, by virtue of the negotiations between the Government and its adversaries, sponsored by Norway, a small door was opened for that sanction to be lifted. However, it entered Essequibo is on the scene and the political panorama has become tense again. A new law derived from the popular consultation contemplates the disqualification from holding public office against those who are accused of favoring Georgetown’s position.
London speaks out
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The Minister of Defense of Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino, described “unhappy provocation“the decision of the US Southern Command to carry out air exercises in Guyana. The general assured that ExxonMobil is behind the maneuvers. “We warn that they will not divert us from our future actions for the recovery of Essequibo. Make no mistake!” The Caracas press reported that five Guyanese soldiers died and two survived in an accident when they were traveling by helicopter to visit troops near the border with Venezuela.
London also came out to support its former colony, through the Foreign Minister, David Cameron. “These borders were established in 1899. I see absolutely no argument for unilateral action by Venezuela; it must stop, it is a mistake.” Vice President Delcy Rodríguez responded immediately through the X network: “The only retrograde thing is the political, economic and social hardship to which the United Kingdom has been plungedespecially since Brexit, for which David Cameron is directly responsible.” He recalled in that sense that the British Crown was one of the authors of the Paris Arbitration Award of 1899 that granted the Essequibo to Guyana and, at the same time, signed in 1966 In 1966, the Geneva Agreement was signed, which admitted the existence of a dispute over that territory.
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