Venezuela celebrates 100 days of having held a referendum that has so far failed to achieve its goal of annexing the country Essequibothe territory of almost 160,000 square kilometers that it controls and exploits Guyanadespite threats of Caracassome paralyzed for a long time.
After the unilateral consultation promoted by Chavismo, in which almost all participants approved the annexation, all powers of the State announced actions that included legislation for the creation of a Venezuelan region in the area under dispute and the extraction of its riches, which continue to be managed by Georgetown.
Although Venezuela insists that Essequibo, which it has not controlled since 1899, “belongs to it,” the Government has not set foot in the territory, while Guyana, which makes less noise in relation to the dispute, hopes that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) resolve the controversy, despite Caracas’s rejection of this route.
Venezuela does not talk about military deployment
100 days after the referendum, the Government does not talk about the military deployment ordered by the president Nicolas Maduro for an area near Essequibo, nor about the plan to grant nationality to those who live in that territory, nor about the concessions that should be issued “immediately” to exploit oil in the place.
Nor is there a word about the presidential order to expel in three months the companies that operate there with the permit of Guyana, which continue to work without problems, nor about the controversy ‘Defense Law of Guayana Esequiba’the framework with which Venezuela promised to formalize the annexation and whose discussion was paralyzed in Parliament on January 9.
The few statements provided by the Government regarding Essequibo revolve around Venezuela’s “right” over the area and the search for friendly solutions with Guyana, without commenting on all the announced plans or the money spent on this operation.
Diplomatic route
After the tension and concerns of the international community about the possibility of a violent escalation, both countries headed, at the request of third parties, to a diplomatic path that began with a meeting between Maduro and his Guyanese counterpart, Irfan Aliin mid December.
This meeting, promoted by the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvaextinguished the discursive fire and gave way to other actions that ended up cooling the matter, such as the bilateral appointment of ambassadors and the meeting between the foreign ministers.
On January 25, the heads of diplomacy of Venezuela and Guyana, Yvan Gil y Hugh Toddrespectively, installed a commission in Brazil to maintain a peaceful and non-threatening dialogue on the dispute, with a commitment to meet again in March, on a date that is not yet known.
In these conversations, Caracas ratified the validity of the Geneva Agreementwhich establishes the need to seek a solution through direct negotiations, especially in the waters that it considers “pending to be delimited”, in which large hydrocarbon reserves are found.
Beyond the negotiations, Maduro reiterated this month that Venezuela will not abide by any decision of the ICJ and that, whatever its ruling, Guyana will be forced to agree with Caracas on the Essequibo, which represents two-thirds of its territory.
The threat of conflict remains
In Venezuela, which 100 days ago only talked about Essequibo, the issue faded away until March, when the announcement of the date of the presidential elections ended up burying the news interest in this dispute, leaving negotiations between Caracas and Georgetown virtually unguarded.
With the call to the polls for July 28, the doubt remains about the place that the territorial controversy will occupy, and all the money spent on the December 3 referendum, in the political campaign, which will formally start on July 4.
The president – who, according to the ruling PSUV party, will seek a second re-election – assured that he has a plan to “make tangible” the annexation, a promise that, if materialized, would reactivate the threat of war. EFE (I)
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