All over the world, old borders and treaties are back in play.
South America is tense as Venezuela flexes its political and military muscles to try and solve its territorial dispute most favorably, with the annexation of no less than 74% of neighboring Guyana’s territory.
Miami Herald reported:
“Venezuelans going to the polls Sunday will be asked to answer an unusually provocative question: Should their government be given a blank check to invade neighboring Guyana, and wrest away three-quarters of its oil-rich territory?”
Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro is putting the question before voters, raising tensions in the region and threatening to escalate into a kinetic war.
“The question will be on the ballot in a five-part referendum that, among other things, would grant Maduro special powers to invade Guyana and create a new Venezuelan state encompassing 74% of English-speaking Guyana’s current landmass. The new area would be called Guayana Esequiba.”
Some see it as a mere political ploy, though many Guyanese citizens see the threat as real and fear the loss of their identity and citizenship.
“’Clearly Maduro has domestic constituencies in mind, but I think when you weigh the number of negatives of annexation, Maduro would be crazy to risk all of those negatives to take 74% of Guyana’, said Ivelaw Griffith, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and a former vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, who is a security expert in the region. ‘That’s not a small hunk of land’.”
Neighbor Brazil announced that it was increasing its military presence along its northern border amid fears that the long-standing dispute could become a war.
The border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela goes back to the 19th century and escalated after Guyana began discovering oil on its territory a few years ago.
The dispute is before the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, where Guyana has asked it to rule that the 1899 decision is ‘valid and binding.’
“‘We’ve asked them to indicate that [the vote] is illegal for Venezuela to proceed with the referendum in its current form’, said Carl Greenidge, a former Guyanese foreign minister who has been representing Guyana in the long-running dispute. ‘The questions, as formulated, can be seen or interpreted as intended to give Venezuela a blueprint, or endorsement for taking action’, Greenidge said, describing the whole move by his Spanish-speaking neighbor as “completely absurd.”
The Bolivarian socialist regime of Venezuela has already launched an aggressive propaganda campaign over the news outlets it controls: “The Essequibo is ours.”
Associated Press reported:
“Guyana sees the referendum as a case of annexation and asked the International Court of Justice on Nov. 14 to halt parts of the vote. The court has not issued a decision, but even if it rules against Venezuela, Maduro’s government intends to hold the election Sunday.
The 61,600-square-mile (159,500-square-kilometer) area accounts for two-thirds of Guyana. Yet, Venezuela has always considered Essequibo as its own because the region was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and it has long disputed the border decided by international arbitrators in 1899, when Guyana was still a British colony.”
Venezuelan interest piqued again in 2015 when oil was found in commercial quantities off the Essequibo coast.
The disputed boundary was decided by in the 1800’s by arbitrators from Britain, Russia, and the United States.
The U.S. represented Venezuela because the government had broken diplomatic relations with Britain.
“Venezuelan officials contend the Americans and Europeans conspired to cheat their country out of the land and argue that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration. Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, maintains the initial accord is legal and binding and asked the world court in 2018 to rule it as such.”
The International Court of Justice will issue a decision this week dealing with Guyana’s request to halt parts of the Venezuelan referendum.
The post POWDER KEG AMERICA: Venezuela Votes in a Referendum Asking Whether They Should Invade Neighbor Guyana and Occupy 74% Of Its Territory! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.