Venezuelan president moves ahead with plan to seize oil-rich Essequibo region

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is actively implementing his plans to seize Essequibo, an oil-rich region controlled by neighboring Guyana, BBC News reports, according to UNN.

Details

Maduro ordered the state oil company to issue production licenses there and proposed that the country's National Assembly pass a bill that would make the territory part of Venezuela.

In response, Guyana put its defense forces on full alert.

Venezuelan voters on Sunday showed support in a referendum on Essequibo rights, increasing tensions.

In a Facebook post criticizing Maduro's mistakes, Guyana's President Irfaan Ali said he had already spoken to the UN Secretary General and was asking the UN Security Council to consider intervening.

He also sought to reassure the country's investors - mostly oil companies - that their money is safe.

Meanwhile, Brazil said on Wednesday that its military was stepping up its presence on the border with Guyana and Venezuela, deploying more troops and armored vehicles.

Related

The country has long argued that the 1899 decision to award the 159,500-square-kilometer region to Britain was unjust.

The case is currently before the International Court of Justice, although Venezuela says the court does not have the authority to rule on the matter. The court has warned Venezuela not to take any action that could change the status quo in Essequibo.

Essequibo has been under the rule of Guyana, and before that British Guiana, for over a hundred years, but Venezuela has long been trying to control it.

The discovery of oil in the waters off the coast of Essequibo in 2015 helped fuel the current dispute. Tensions were further exacerbated in September of this year when Guyana held an auction for exploration licenses in these waters.

Guyana's wealth is largely based on oil production and exports, which has made its economy one of the fastest growing in the world in recent years.

Meanwhile, Venezuela is struggling to recover from a years-long economic crisis, which has been exacerbated by US sanctions imposed on oil sales in connection with Maduro's election in 2018. The country has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.