Guyana plans to ask the UN Security Council for help.
Venezuela proposes the creation of a Venezuelan province in the Essequibo region of Guyana. A referendum was held in Venezuela on Sunday, where 95 percent of the voters supported the annexation of the western half of Guyana to Venezuela.
In addition, Venezuela has granted a state-owned oil company permission to start oil drilling in the area. Essequibo is known to have abundant oil reserves.
Guyana has announced that it will seek help from the UN Security Council if Venezuela plans to take further steps to annex Essequibo after Sunday’s referendum.
The dispute over the control of the Essequibo region has escalated since the oil company ExxonMobil discovered oil there in 2015. Venezuela also has significant oil reserves, but the country’s economy has been in chaos for years.
of Venezuela Sunday’s referendum has been speculated to have been one president Nicolas Maduro the attempt to secure his re-election in next year’s presidential election. Maduro has been in power since 2013, when his predecessor Hugo Chavez died.
For decades, Venezuela has considered the Essequibo region to be its own. The country appeals to the territorial division during the Spanish rule from the 18th century and does not accept the decision made by the International Court of Arbitration in 1899, according to which the territory belonged to the then colonial master Britain.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is scheduled to take up the territorial dispute next spring. Last week, the ICJ already prohibited Venezuela from taking any steps to change the current situation. Venezuela does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICJ in the case.
Guyana is a former British colony that became independent in 1966. The official language of the country is English.
About 125,000 people live in the Essequibo region, while the entire population of Guyana is about 800,000.
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