If President Maduro’s directives are implemented and Guyana’s President maintains that Essequibo will continue to be part of Guyana’s territory, then the conditions for an unprecedented war in the Caribbean are being created.
After the recent referendum on Sunday, where Venezuelans chose to assert their sovereignty over the oil-rich Essequibo area, President Maduro has issued directives that have sent shock waves across the Caribbean.
Maduro instructed the state-owned firms of the country to promptly initiate the investigation and utilisation of the oil, gas, and mineral resources in Guyana’s Essequibo region. This region, which is larger than Greece and abundant in oil and minerals, is recognised by Venezuela as its own.
Maduro expressed his intention to promptly issue operational licences for the discovery and extraction of oil, gas, and minerals throughout the whole Essequibo region. In addition, he mandated the establishment of domestic branches of Venezuelan state-owned enterprises, such as the petroleum behemoth PDVSA and the mining conglomerate Corporación Venezolana de Guyana.
The method by which the Maduro government plans to enforce its authority over the territory, once it is officially recognised as part of Venezuela through a forthcoming law to be deliberated by the National Assembly, remains uncertain.
In Caracas, Maduro additionally declared the establishment of a novel Comprehensive Defence Operational Zone, referred to as Zodi in Spanish, for the disputed strip. This zone will resemble the specialised military commands responsible for executing operations in various sections of the nation.
President Irfaan Ali, speaking in Georgetown, informed the Guyanese population that his administration has officially notified United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s recent statements against Guyana’s Essequibo area.
The President stated that the international community is being actively involved in the matter. The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is fully prepared and actively collaborating with foreign military counterparts, such as the United States Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM).
Ali expressed that Guyana saw Maduro’s actions as a “imminent threat” to its territorial integrity. He emphasised that the international community will not tolerate any of these acts. Furthermore, he reassured the Guyanese people that the government will make every effort to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
What would be the response of allies?
Whether Caracas will pursue a military seizure of the disputed Essequibo territory, despite Georgetown’s assertion that it belongs to Guyana, remains an unanswered question.
Would Guyana’s allies, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other nations, provide support and assistance? What about Venezuela’s enduring allies, Russia, China, and Iran? What would be the role of CARICOM, of which Guyana is a member?
Currently, all of this may be purely hypothetical, but conversely, is it possible that the present moment has already arrived?
CARICOM STANCE ON LAND DISPUTE
CARICOM reiterates its support for the judicial process and expresses the hope that Venezuela will engage fully in that process before the International Court of Justice which has determined that it has the jurisdiction in the case brought before it to determine the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award which Venezuela questions. The Court’s final decision will ensure a resolution that is peaceful, equitable and in accordance with International Law.
Venezuela Reacts To CARICOM
The Government of Venezuela said: “It is astonishing that the aforementioned Secretariat juggles to avoid referring to the Court’s clear call to the government of Guyana to cease the deliberate actions that aggravate the situation, among which we can mention the involvement of the United State Southern Command and the granting of concessions in a yet to be demarcated maritime area, which has generated a situation that threatens the peace and stability of the Caribbean region.”
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the statement is calling on CARICOM partners countries to return to good judgment and objectivity.
United States on Guyana -Venezuela Land dispute
The US State Department Dec. 4 said no decision has been made on reimposing sanctions on Venezuela following the passage of a referendum to annex neighboring Guyana’s Essequibo region, in a dispute that could threaten war between the oil-rich South American countries.
The state department said an escalation by Maduro raises the risk that the US reimpose sanctions on Venezuela, Those sanctions which were lifted on Oct. 18.
“They have not followed through on their part of the bargain,” the State Department’s Miller said. “There are two additional steps that we want to see them take. We want to see them release political prisoners and we want to see them release wrongfully detained Americans. That was part of the framework agreement that we had come to with them. They have not carried out their part of the agreement. We urge them to do so. But at the same time, we are considering the matter and will suspend some of the sanctions relief that we put in place earlier this year if we determine that adequate progress to the commitments they made to us have not been made.”
The International Court for Justice, currently reviewing the territorial dispute, on Dec. 1 ordered Venezuela not to make any border changes related to the referendum.
