Essequibo: Venezuelans vote to seize oil sector controlled by Guyana

Venezuelans have voted in big numbers to say they want a piece of land with a lot of oil that Guyana has been in charge of for a long time.

Officials say that over 95% of people agreed to create a new state in Essequibo.

Caracas says the area has belonged to Venezuela since it became independent from Spain 200 years ago, but Guyana says it was given to British Guiana in the late 19th Century.

The argument started again in 2015 because a big oil find was made in the ocean.

President Nicolás Maduro said the referendum went really well and that most people in Venezuela voted “Yes”.

Essequibo is a big area in Guyana, it is 159,500 sq km and has around a sixth of the country’s population.

The two neighbors have been arguing for a long time about the status of the region.

In 1899, an international court gave the land to Britain, which was ruling Guyana at the time. The governments of Venezuela have said that they think the decision was not fair.

In 1966, Guyana became independent. Britain and Venezuela agreed to create a group to talk about the dispute over the land. But after sixty years, they still haven’t found a solution.

The vote is happening because in 2015, ExxonMobil found oil in the waters near Essequibo.

In 2018, Guyana filed a case at the International Court of Justice to decide if a decision made in 1899 about the territory is still valid. Guyana wants to show that the territory belongs to them. The ICJ has not made a decision yet.

Venezuela doesn’t agree that the ICJ can make decisions about this problem, but they have been going to the court’s meetings.

In September this year, tensions went up when Guyana had an auction. Oil companies bid to explore for oil in Essequibo waters.

The referendum asked people if they agreed with Venezuela’s claim over Essequibo and if they supported the government’s decision to not accept the ICJ’s authority.

They were also asked if they agreed to “strongly fight against in a legal way” Guyana’s use of the waters near the land and if they supported Essequibo being part of Venezuela’s map.

The president of the country’s election authority said that more than 95% of voters agreed with all the questions.

Guyana is upset about the vote and thinks it is trying to take over their land. The ICJ told Venezuela not to do anything that would change the way things are in the Essequibo.

Critics have also criticized the poll as an effort by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to stir up strong feelings of patriotism before the 2024 election.

We don’t know yet what the Venezuelan government will do after the referendum, but if they try to take the land by force, other countries will strongly oppose it.

One important thing is that the US put sanctions on Venezuela’s oil exports again, after starting to lessen them in October.