The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, promulgated on Wednesday (3) the so-called Organic Law for the Defense of Essequibo, which creates a Venezuelan region within the territory internationally recognized as part of Guyana.
The text has 39 articles that regulate the founding of “Guiana Essequiba”, as the territory is called by Venezuelans.
Article 25 of the enacted law prevents supporters of the Guyanese government from holding public or elected positions, which creates a layer of protection for Venezuela against critics of the annexation project.
Américo: There is no way to separate the issue in Essequibo from the elections in Venezuela | CNN NEW DAY
The creation of the law began to be officially discussed in December 2023, in the National Assembly, which proposed the creation of a Venezuelan province in Essequibo.
Also in December, the Venezuelan government held a referendum in which 95% of voters present voted in favor of incorporating the Guyanese territory into Venezuela.
The endorsement of the referendum would give Venezuela permission to explore oil there.
Nicolás Maduro signs the so-called Organic Law for the Defense of Essequibo, to annex the territory internationally recognized as belonging to Guyana / Reproduction/X
Venezuela’s electoral authorities said more than 10 million Venezuelans voted in the referendum.
“After the people demonstrated constitutionally on December 3, the National Assembly did what it had to do, expanded the call for consultation on the Organic Law for the Defense of Guyana Esequiba,” said Maduro in a publication on platform X this Wednesday .
“With the power that the constitution gives me, the decision taken by Venezuelans in the consultative referendum will be fulfilled in all its parts and, with this Law, we will continue the defense of Venezuela on international stages.”
Guyana says its borders are not subject to dispute and it will defend its sovereignty.
The United States, in turn, expressed its support for Guyana’s position. In December, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington stands by its call to the parties for a “peaceful resolution.”
Itamaraty observes with “caution” President Nicolas Maduro’s decision to enact a law to annex the territory of Essequibo to Venezuela.
The Essequibo area corresponds to two-thirds of Guyanese territory, therefore an annexation by Venezuela would represent a threat to the integrity of Guyana.
Riches of Essequibo
Venezuela claims that the territory of Essequibo was taken from it in 1899 in the Paris arbitration ruling, which described the denunciation of irregularities in a 1962 procedure before the UN as having no effect.
In turn, Guyana rejected this referendum and asked the International Court of Justice to issue an emergency order against the result of the popular consultation, since, it argues, the territory belongs to the Guyanese.
Although the territory of Essequibo is mainly composed of dense jungle, there are also reserves of oil, gas, gold and diamonds in the area, riches that have influenced the recovery of Guyana’s economy.
The region is the subject of dispute between Venezuela and Guyana, which, as defined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), currently administers the territory.
The area under discussion, which covers around 160,000 km² and has a population of around 125,000 inhabitants, is rich in natural resources, as well as varied flora and fauna and extensive mining capacity. Furthermore, it has agricultural potential and has reserves of diamonds, gold and bauxite.
In 2015, the discovery of oil by ExxonMobil had a positive impact on the value of Essequibo, and since then it has become the country’s main economic and political focus, according to the CIA World Fact Book.
A member of the National Assembly holds a map showing the disputed Esequibo region as part of Venezuela in Caracas 06/12/2024 REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria / Reuters
According to the document, the small South American export economy was driven by hydrocarbons.
ExxonMobil reported that, according to its estimates, there are large reserves of crude oil in the area, which could reach 4 billion barrels. Some experts believe there is even more oil in the 6 million hectare Starbroek block.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Guyana has become the country with the fastest economic growth, with its GDP expected to grow by 38.4% this year.
This pace should be sustained as production continues to increase with the activation of new oil fields starting next year.
Venezuelan economist Francisco Monaldi, an expert in the oil business, told CNN that estimates are currently higher and could be around 11 billion barrels, of which around 450,000 barrels per day are currently produced.
(Published by Gustavo Zanfer, with information from Osmary Hernández, from CNNthat’s right CNN in Spanish)
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