Venezuela says voters back claim to oil-rich swath of Guyana

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Venezuela’s revolutionary socialist government has trumpeted what it says is an “overwhelming victory” in a referendum on its claim to an oil-and-mineral-rich swath of neighbouring Guyana in a referendum on Sunday.

The referendum, which Guyana has described as a pretext for “annexation”, marks a new phase in a dispute over the Essequibo region, which has escalated since ExxonMobil made one of the world’s biggest recent oil discoveries in the Stabroek block off its coast in 2015.

“We have to give a standing ovation to the Venezuelan people,” said Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian president, in a speech in Caracas after the electoral authority announced official results saying it had counted more than 10mn votes.

“[We] have taken the first steps of a new historic phase of fighting for what is ours, and to recover what the liberators left us: Guayana Esequiba”, as the disputed region is known in Venezuela.

Maduro did not mention what steps Caracas might take next regarding Essequibo, but he celebrated what he claimed was a strong turnout. At the start of his speech, he referred to the referendum as “consultative”.

Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, posted a video on X on Sunday night showing a small group of indigenous people lowering a Guyanese flag in a remote mountainous region, which he said had been put up by Guyana’s president Irfaan Ali the previous month, and raising a Venezuelan flag in its place.

“On November 23, that slave of ExxonMobil who acts as president of Guyana, in a display of provocation, went to the Sierra de Paracaima and raised a Guyanese flag and left,” Rodríguez wrote. “Well, I want you to see this video.” Maduro quickly retweeted the video, whose filming date and exact location were not clear.

Sunday’s referendum took place after an order on Friday from the International Court of Justice for Venezuela to refrain from “taking any action” that would alter the status quo of the Essequibo region, which Guyana “exercises control over”. The court, which is considering the Essequibo issue, stopped short of telling Venezuela not to hold the ballot.

All five ballot questions concerning Essequibo were approved by voters, including one that rejected the ICJ’s jurisdiction to rule on the matter. Another asked voters if they believed the territory should become a Venezuelan state and its residents granted citizenship.

The head of Venezuela’s government-appointed national electoral council, Elvis Amoroso, said more than 10mn votes had been counted and all five questions approved, with at least 95 per cent in favour. However it was not clear whether the 10mn figure referred to the number of voters participating or the total number of voters’ answers to the five questions.

The 160,000 sq km of land claimed by Venezuela is home to about 200,000 Guyanese, who mainly speak English and indigenous languages. It represents about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.

Tensions flared ahead of the vote, with Guyana claiming Caracas was preparing a military build-up in case it wanted to enforce the referendum’s outcome. Venezuelan government officials said its troops were deployed to carry out operations against illegal mining.

Brazil, which borders both countries, said it had “intensified” defence measures near the territory ahead of the vote, “promoting a greater military presence”.

Observers and opposition politicians inside Venezuela have characterised the referendum as an attempt for Maduro to buoy domestic support as the country prepares for elections in the second half of 2024.

Maduro — who won re-election in 2018 in a vote regarded by the US as fraudulent — has yet to announce his candidacy, though he is widely expected to run.

In an effort to entice Maduro into allowing a “free and fair” poll next year, the US last month relaxed sanctions on oil, gold and secondary financial markets for six months.

Despite official claims of a huge turnout, witnesses said queues at polling stations on Sunday were much shorter than those for the opposition’s primary on October 22, in which 2.4mn people participated.

That vote was decisively won by María Corina Machado, a pro-market former lawmaker banned from holding office by the government. On Thursday the government said it would allow disqualified candidates to appeal against their bans.

While most Venezuelans consider the Essequibo region a part of Venezuela, Machado said ahead of the referendum that the vote was a “distraction” and that the matter should be settled at the ICJ.