Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro addresses his supporters in Caracas on Monday morning after the referendum Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP
Venezuelan voters overwhelming backed the country's claim to the oil-rich part of Guyana, which its neighbor called a «pretext for annexation.»
Election officials said 95 percent of voters approved the creation of a new state in Essequibo in a non-binding referendum on Sunday.
Venezuela has become increasingly hawkish in asserting its claims to Essequibo — which makes up two-thirds of the English-speaking former British colony and is home to about a sixth of its population — since huge oil reserves were discovered off its coast eight years ago.Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's authoritarian leftist president, hailed the «stunning victory of the Yes vote across Venezuela» after Sunday's vote.
About 10.5 million of Venezuela's 20.7 million eligible voters took part in the referendum.
“We must give a standing ovation to the Venezuelan people,” Maduro said, without specifying what his socialist government would do in response to the results of the “consultative” referendum.
Venezuela is at the center of events. is in the grip of a crippling economic crisis ahead of elections next year, and analysts say Mr Maduro is trying to use the Essequibo issue as a distraction.“There is no more effective way to divert attention than by raising a powerful, eye-catching issue, which appeals to patriotic feelings,” said Rocío San Miguel, a security expert from Venezuela.
Irfaan Ali, Guyana's president, said that despite the referendum result there was «nothing to be afraid of», saying his government was working to secure the country's borders and keep people safe.
Thousands of people, some wearing T-shirts T-shirts reading «Essequibo belongs to Guyana» formed human chains to protest Venezuela's claims during Sunday's vote.
Maduro's government said it was not seeking justification for invading or annexing the vast territory because of some fear in English-speaking Guyana .
Oil reserves are at least 10 billion barrels.
The dispute between the two countries over Essequibo has escalated since 2015, when ExxonMobil discovered oil off its coast.
Guyana is estimated to have crude oil reserves of at least 10 billion barrels — more than the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
Exploitation of these reserves means the country is set to surpass Venezuela's oil production and become the world's largest per capita producer of crude oil.
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Tensions came to a head after Guyana accepted bids for new offshore oil exploration in September and announced a new discovery in October.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Friday that Venezuela should not take “any action » to change the status quo in the region.
He added that there is a «serious risk that Venezuela will acquire and exercise control and administration of the disputed territory in this case.»
But In Sunday's referendum, which asked voters a series of questions, Venezuelan voters unilaterally rejected the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
A pedestrian walks past a mural reading «All of Venezuela» next to a map depicting the disputed Essequibo territory as part of Venezuela. Photo: Gabi Oraa/Bloomberg
The vote covered five issues in total, including proposals to create a province of Venezuela to be called «Guyana Essequibo» and grant its residents Venezuelan citizenship.
Caracas says that the Essequibo River in the east of the region is the natural border between the two countries, as was declared in 1777 under Spanish rule and that Britain wrongly appropriated Venezuelan lands in the 19th century.
Guyana claims that the current border was confirmed in 1899 arbitration tribunal and that Venezuela accepted these findings until 1962.
Venezuela's position is that the 1966 agreement between Venezuela and then colonial ruler Britain annulled the 1899 decision.
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