– We are scared. Terrified.
That is what the 39-year-old health worker Jacklyn Peters says to AFP.
She is one of Arau’s 280 inhabitants. The remote village is surrounded by dense rainforest in today’s Guyana, but only ten kilometers from the border with neighboring Venezuela.
After Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has claimed that this village – and as much as two-thirds of Guyana – actually belongs to Venezuela, there are now growing fears of a larger conflict.
The reason? Oil.
CELEBRATED: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro now considers parts of Guyana as his territory. Here during the referendum on 3 December. Photo: Pedro Rances Mattey / AFP / NTB Show more
Flared up again
Det er region Essequibo det dreier seg om.
This oil and mineral rich area with around 125,000 inhabitants has belonged to Guyana, the South American mainland’s third smallest country, since an international boundary commission decided the issue in 1899.
At the time, Guyana was a British colony and had the name British Guiana, which they remained until 1966.
CLAIMING: Kaieteur, the world’s tallest waterfall, is located in Essequibo which Venezuela will claim. Photo: Martín Silva / AFP / NTB Show more
Ever since the Boundary Commission’s decision almost 125 years ago, Venezuela has claimed that the decision was unfair and in favor of the great colonial power Great Britain. During the Spanish colonial period, the area was within Venezuela’s borders, they emphasise.
Nevertheless, the area has taken on a completely new meaning in recent years.
The reason is that the American oil giant ExxonMobil found oil off the coast of Essequibo in 2015.
In September this year, Guyana opened up for oil companies to bid for exploration licenses in this coastal area.
– Annexation
Venezuela believes that an agreement from 1966 to find a solution overrides the border drawing from 1899. Guyana, for its part, believes that the almost 125-year-old border determination is binding.
CONFLICT: Nicolás Maduro (tv) claims that more than half of Guyana actually belongs to Venezuela. Guyana’s president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, apparently has no intention of giving up the oil-rich part of the country. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon and Ahamd Gharabli / AFP / NTB Show more
Today, Guyana is 215,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of Great Britain. For comparison, mainland Norway is 385,207 square kilometers. Nevertheless, Guyana consists of a great deal of rainforest and only has around 800,000 inhabitants.
The case is now with the International Court of Justice (IJC) in The Hague, despite the fact that Venezuela claims the IJC does not have the authority to interfere in the conflict between the two countries.
The conflict further intensified last weekend, when Venezuelan President Maduro held a referendum on incorporating the area into Venezuela.
ACTION: The authorities in Venezuela have liberated a prison the inmates ran themselves. A swimming pool, night club and a zoo were among the facilities. Video: AP, X / Twitter. Reporter: Bjørge Dahle Johansen / Dagbladet TV Show more
95 percent of the allegedly more than ten million votes supported that Venezuela is the country’s rightful owner, although several have questioned the electoral support in the referendum, reports BBC.
Shortly after, Maduro presented a proposal to proclaim a new province in this region, and at the same time has ordered the state oil company to immediately issue oil, gas and mining licenses here.
Guyana’s government considers the whole thing an attempt at annexation.
NEW MAP CELEBRATED: Venezuela’s National Assembly celebrated Venezuela’s new official map after Venezuela voted to incorporate Essequibo into Venezuela last Friday. Photo: Matias Delacroix / AP Show more
Placed flags
The 39-year-old health worker Jacklyn Peters is among those who live in the area President Maduro now claims belongs to Venezuela.
On a high mountain near the village towers the flag of Guyana.
– Every morning we look at that flag and feel happy and proud, she tells AFP.
The flag was personally placed there by Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali to show that the citizens belong to Guyana.
The area is now experiencing a violent escalation in the conflict.
Locals tell the news agency that Venezuela’s army is patrolling the region by boat and helicopter. Since September, Venezuela’s army has also reportedly begun taxing boats that travel down the river to the village with supplies.
This has led to an explosion in prices.
– We don’t want Maduro here. We don’t want corruption and poverty, says the former village chief in Arau, Thomas Devroy, to AFP.
PLACED FLAGS: On top of this mountain, the President of Guyana has single-handedly placed the flag to demonstrate that this area belongs to Guyana. Photo: Roberto Cisneros / AFP / NTB Show more
Warns: – Don’t want war
– We do not want, and we do not need, war in South America, Brazilian President Lula da Silva also said at a Mercosur summit last week.
Lula has also warned Maduro of carrying out “unilateral measures” that would escalate the border dispute. It happened in a phone call on Saturday, the Brazilian president’s office said.
Lula also relayed growing unrest among other Latin American countries and advocated negotiations to resolve the dispute, the president’s office said.
The two countries’ presidents, Nicolás Maduro and Mohamed Irfaan Ali, are scheduled to meet for talks next Thursday. It was announced by prime ministers of the Caribbean island state of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is hosting the meeting, writes NTB.
2023-12-17 22:01:15
#Claims #country
