Venezuela
The disputed Essequibo area is larger than Greece, rich in minerals and provides access to a part of the Atlantic that has oil in commercial quantities
Guardianship staff and agencies
Venezuelans have approved a referendum called by President Nicolás Maduro’s government to claim sovereignty over an oil- and mineral-rich swath of neighboring Guyana, the country’s electoral authority announced.
Few voters were seen at polling stations, but the National Electoral Council claimed that more than 10.5 million ballots were cast in the country of 20 million eligible voters.
Venezuela has long argued that the territory, which covers two-thirds of Guyana, was stolen when the border was drawn more than a century ago. But Guyana sees the referendum as a step toward annexation, and the vote is unsettling its residents.
“Despotic” Maduro is accused of risking conflict between Venezuela and Guyana over an oil-rich region
Venezuelan voters were asked whether they support the creation of a state in the disputed territory, known as Essequibo, granting citizenship to current and future residents and rejecting the jurisdiction of the United Nations Supreme Court to resolve disagreements between South American countries .
“It was a complete success for our country, for our democracy,” Maduro told supporters gathered in Caracas, the capital, after the results were announced, then stressed the “very important level of popular participation” in the referendum.
Throughout Sunday, the long lines typical of election events did not form in front of voting centers in Caracas. Portal witnesses visited voting centers across the country
– Many had few or no people in line. In Maracaibo, in the oil-rich state of Zulia, poll workers told Portal that voter turnout was low.
But before the 12-hour voting window was set to expire, the country’s top electoral authority official, Elvis Amoroso, announced that polls would remain open for another two hours due to what he described as “massive” voter turnout.
With a turnout of more than 10.5 million voters, more people voted in the referendum than voted for Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s mentor and predecessor, when he was re-elected in 2012.
President Nicolás Maduro speaks to pro-government supporters following a referendum on Venezuela’s claim to Essequibo, a region administered and controlled by Guyana. Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana’s control over Essequibo, but the judges did not explicitly ban officials from holding Sunday’s five-question referendum. Guyana had asked the court to order Venezuela to stop parts of the vote.
Although the practical and legal implications of the referendum remain unclear, ICJ President Joan E. Donoghue said in comments on Friday’s ruling that statements from the Venezuelan government indicated that it was “taking steps to take control of the disputed territory and manage it.”
“In addition, Venezuelan military officials announced that Venezuela is taking concrete measures to build an airstrip that will serve as a ‘logistical base for the holistic development of the Essequibo,'” she said.
The 61,600-square-mile (159,500-square-kilometer) area borders Brazil, whose defense ministry said earlier this week it had “intensified its defense measures” and increased its military presence in the region as a result of the dispute.
Essequibo is larger than Greece and rich in minerals. It also provides access to an area of the Atlantic where energy giant ExxonMobil discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2015, drawing the attention of the Maduro government.
The Venezuelan government promoted the referendum for weeks, portraying participation as an act of patriotism and often mixing it with a show of support for Maduro.
Venezuela has always considered Essequibo its own country since the region was within its borders during the Spanish colonial period, and it has long disputed the border, which was established by international arbitrators in 1899 when Guyana was still a British colony.
This limit was set by referees from Great Britain, Russia and the United States. The US represented Venezuela on the panel in part because the Venezuelan government had severed diplomatic relations with Britain.
Venezuelan officials claim Americans and Europeans conspired to defraud their country of the land and argue that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration process.
Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, considers the original agreement to be legal and binding and asked the International Court of Justice to rule it as such in 2018, but a decision is still years away.
Voters had to answer on Sunday whether they “agree by all means and in accordance with the law” to reject the 1899 border and whether they support the 1966 agreement “as the only valid legal instrument” to achieve a solution.
“I came to vote because Essequibo is ours and I hope that whatever they do, they will think carefully about it and remember never to jeopardize peace,” said 37-year-old merchant Juan Carlos Rodríguez after voting at a center in Caracas where only a handful of people were in line.
With Associated Press and Portal
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