Nicolás Maduro speaks along with President of the Bolivarian National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez (out of picture) during a session of the Federal Council Assembly at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas
The Identification, Migration and Aliens Service of Venezuela (Saime) has issued 4,015 identity cards in the nearby town of Tumeremo since December 10 Essequibo, the territory of almost 160,000 square kilometers that the country shares with neighboring Guyana, the Venezuelan government announced on Saturday 23rd. In a statement, the Interior and Justice Ministries said that “a total of 4,015 identification documents” had been issued. during the “special day” with which the country's government plans to offer Venezuelan citizenship to those living in the disputed territory, which has been controlled by Guyana for more than 100 years. The trip ordered by the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, “served more than 30 sectors in the municipality of Sifontes” on the border with Essequibo, “as well as six educational units that benefited the indigenous communities in the area,” the document says. Saime plans to resume this work on January 8 “to continue with the renewal of the document as well as the first documentation” in this city in the Amazon state of Bolívar, which also borders Brazil.
Through Instagram, the institution shared several photos and videos showing the handover of identity cards in the city where the authorities unilaterally created by Maduro are temporarily being established in his attempt to annex the territory to Venezuela. Providing identity documents to people living in the disputed territory is one of the measures proposed by Venezuela after the majority approved annexation of the territory in a onesided referendum on December 3, sparking diplomatic tensions in the region. But on December 14, Maduro and the Guyanese president said Irfaan Ali, agreed after a meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines that their countries will not threaten each other and avoid incidents. The dispute remains with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, an institution that Venezuela rejects.
*With information from EFE