The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, said this Monday (15) that his government has a plan to “make tangible” the annexation of Essequibo, a territory of almost 160 thousand square kilometers rich in natural resources and which is part of Guyana more than 100 years ago.
During his annual report to Parliament, the Chavista leader thanked the deputies for having unanimously called the unilateral referendum held in Venezuela on December 3 last year, when almost everyone who voted approved the annexation of the territory. “We have a popular mandate, a special and safe plan to make tangible throughout the national territory, to make tangible and certain the slogan that is in the hearts of our children, that the sun of Venezuela rises in Essequibo,” he said.
Maduro also recalled that, in December, he ordered military exercises in the regions bordering the Caribbean Sea in response to the arrival of a British warship in Guyana, which Caracas interpreted as a hostile act in the midst of the dispute. “The mission was accomplished and we expelled the ship,” he said, although Georgetown explained that this was a regular visit.
After the referendum, the dictator ordered a military deployment near Essequibo and guaranteed that Venezuela would create a state in the disputed area, which caused tension in the region.
However, in mid-December, Maduro met in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with the president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, and both agreed to avoid incidents to reduce tension in the dispute, which – despite Caracas' rejection – is in the hands of International Court of Justice (ICJ). With EFE Agency
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