Another land grab attempt is underway, this time on the other side of the world

Caracas: Venezuelans have approved a proposal by President Nicolás Maduro to claim sovereignty over a large oil and mineral-rich piece of neighbouring Guyana, the country’s electoral authority announced.

Few voters could be seen at voting centres throughout the voting period for the five-question referendum, but the National Electoral Council claimed to have counted more than 10.5 million ballot papers. The council, however, did not explain whether the number of votes was equivalent to a voter or if it was the sum of each individual answer.

Venezuela has long argued the territory, which represents about two-thirds of Guyana, was stolen when the border was drawn more than a century ago. But Guyana considers the referendum a step towards annexation, and the vote has its residents on edge.

A woman sells fruit in front of a mural of a Venezuelan map with the Essequibo territory (bottom right of map) included and the words “All of Venezuela. Vote yes five time on December 3”, in Caracas.Credit: AP

In a move reminiscent of Russia’s strategy to annex eastern Ukraine, Venezuelan voters were asked whether they supported establishing a Venezuelan state in the area known as Essequibo, granting citizenship to current and future area residents. They were also asked if they rejected the jurisdiction of the United Nations’ top court in settling the disagreement between the South American countries.

“It has been a total success for our country, for our democracy,” Maduro told supporters gathered in Caracas, the capital, after results were announced before highlighting the “very important level of participation of the people” in the referendum.

Throughout Sunday, long lines typical of electoral events did not form outside voting centres in Caracas. Still, before the 12-hour voting session was scheduled to end, the country’s top electoral authority, Elvis Amoroso, announced polls would remain open for two additional hours because of what he described as “massive participation”.

Following massive offshore oil discoveries in the region by Exxon Mobil and others, and with elections approaching, President Nicolas Maduro is inflaming regional tension by reviving a long-dormant border dispute over the area known as the Essequibo. Credit: Bloomberg

If the participation figure offered by Amoroso refers to voters, it would mean more people voted in the referendum than they did for Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s mentor and predecessor, when he was re-elected in the 2012 presidential contest. But if it is equivalent to each individual answer marked by voters, turnout could drop to as low as 2.1 million voters.

Activity at voting centres Sunday in Caracas paled in comparison with the hours-long lines that formed outside polls during the presidential primary held by a faction of the opposition in October without assistance from the National Electoral Council.

More than 2.4 million people participated in the primary, a number that government officials declared mathematically impossible given the number of available voting centres and the time it takes a person to cast a paper ballot. State media attributed the lack of wait times on Sunday to the fast speed at which people were casting their electronic ballots.

Maduro told supporters celebrating the results that it only took him 15 seconds to vote.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with first lady Cilia Flores, centre, and Vice President Delcy Rodrigues.Credit: Bloomberg

The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana’s control over Essequibo, but the judges did not specifically ban officials from carrying out the referendum. Guyana had asked the court to order Venezuela to halt parts of the vote.

Although the practical and legal consequences remain unclear, in comments explaining Friday’s verdict, international court president Joan E. Donoghue said statements from Venezuela’s government suggested it was “taking steps with a view towards acquiring control over and administering the territory in dispute”.

“Furthermore, Venezuelan military officials announced that Venezuela is taking concrete measures to build an airstrip to serve as a ‘logistical support point for the integral development of the Essequibo,’” she said.

The 159,500-square-kilometre territory also borders Brazil whose Defence Ministry earlier this week said it has “intensified its defence actions” and boosted its military presence in the region.

Essequibo is larger than Greece and rich in minerals. It also gives access to an area of the Atlantic where energy giant ExxonMobil discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2015, drawing the attention of Maduro’s government.

It promoted the referendum for weeks, framing participation as an act of patriotism and often conflating it with a show of support for Maduro.

Venezuela has always considered Essequibo as its own because the region was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and it has long disputed the border decided by international arbitrators in 1899 when Guyana was still a British colony.

That boundary was decided by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States. The US represented Venezuela on the panel in part because the Venezuelan government had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro in the Kremlin in 2019. Maduro threw his support behind Putin after his invasion of Ukraine.Credit: AP

Venezuelan officials contend that Americans and Europeans conspired to cheat their country out of the land and argue that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration.

Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, maintains the initial accord is legal and binding and asked the International Court of Justice in 2018 to rule it as such, but a decision is years away.

Voters had to answer whether they “agree to reject by all means, in accordance with the law,” the 1899 boundary and whether they support the 1966 agreement “as the only valid legal instrument” to reach a solution.

“I came to vote because Essequibo is ours, and I hope that whatever they are going to do, they think about it thoroughly and remember to never put peace at risk,” merchant Juan Carlos Rodríguez, 37, said after voting at a centre in Caracas where only a handful of people were in line.

Maduro had thrown the full weight of his government into the effort. Essequibo-themed music, nationally televised history lessons, murals, rallies and social media content helped the government to divert people’s attention from pressing matters, including increasing pressure from the US government on Maduro to release political prisoners and wrongfully detained Americans as well as to guarantee free and fair conditions in next year’s presidential election.

In a tour of Caracas voting centres by The Associated Press, lines of about 30 people could be seen at some of them, while at others, voters did not have to wait at all to cast their ballots. That contrasts with other electoral processes when hundreds of people gathered outside voting centres from the start.

Ángela Albornoz, a grassroots organiser for the ruling party, told the AP she estimated that between 23 per cent and 24 per cent of the voters assigned to her voting centre cast ballots. Albornoz, 62, said that figure was below her expectations for an event meant to bring together all Venezuelans “regardless of politics.”

Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali sought to reassure Guyanese anxious over the referendum, telling them they had “nothing to fear over the next number of hours, days, months ahead”. He said Guyana was using diplomacy as its “first line of defence” and was working continuously to ensure its borders “remain intact”.

“I want to advise Venezuela that this is an opportunity for them to show maturity, an opportunity for them to show responsibility, and we call upon them once more join us in ... allowing the rule of law to work and to determine the outcome of this controversy,” Ali said.

AP