Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Sunday that Venezuela will begin a new and powerful stage in the defense of the Essequibo territory, in dispute with neighboring Guyana.
“The people spoke loud and clear and we are going to begin a new and powerful stage, because we have the mandate of the people, we have the voice of the people,” he stated.
Nicolás Maduro spoke in the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas before a significant number of followers who celebrated the victory of the “yes” in the consultative referendum Sunday.
“It was necessary to take a leap to begin a new stage, in the full exercise of national sovereignty, of the National Constitution. We took the first steps on the path of national unity (…) for the future of Venezuela, to fight for our country, for our Essequibo, for peace,” he stated.
Maduro also highlighted that they were given “the first steps of a new historical stage” for “recover what the liberators left”.
The governor praised and thanked the National Electoral Council, the Republic Plan, the members of his government, the political parties, including the opposition, the social, youth, religious and musical movements for the consultative referendum, for the union in defense of the territory. Essequibo.
“Rain or shine, the referendum would be held and the referendum will be held,” he stressed, highlighting that Venezuelans know that “Venezuela has a transparent and reliable electoral system.”
On the other hand, he explained that the oil company Exxon Mobil and the United States invested a lot of money to “stop and sabotage the referendum, to try to buy politicians and restrict the rights of the people.”
“As well as other plans that we managed to stop in time,” he added.
On Sunday, Venezuelans voted in favor of the intentions of the Government of President Nicolás Maduro, for Venezuela to annex the territory of Essequibo, in dispute with neighboring Guyana.
“[Foi] “A clear and resounding victory for yes in the consultative referendum on Essequibo,” said this Sunday the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso, highlighting that the five-question popular consultation registered 10,554,320 votes.
According to the CNE, 97.83% of the votes were to “reject by all means, in accordance with the law, the fraudulent line imposed by the Paris arbitration decision of 1899.”
On the other hand, 98.11% said they supported “the 1966 Geneva Agreement as the only valid legal instrument to achieve a practical and satisfactory solution for Venezuela and Guyana regarding the dispute.”
Venezuela’s “historical position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to resolve the territorial dispute” was supported by 95.40% of the votes.
95.94% of the votes responded affirmatively to “oppose, by all means and in accordance with the law, Guyana’s claim to unilaterally dispose of an undelimited sea, illegally and in violation of international law.”
For the fifth and final question, 95.93% of the votes were in favor of “the creation of the State of Guyana Essequibo and the development of an accelerated plan for the comprehensive care of the current and future population of that territory”, including “the granting of citizenship and Venezuelan identity card” and “thus incorporating this State into the map of Venezuelan territory.”
The Essequibo region, which appears on Venezuelan maps as an “area under claim”, has been under UN mediation since 1966, when the Geneva Agreement was signed.
With an area of 160 thousand square kilometers (km2) and rich in minerals, Essequibo is under the administration of Guyana, based on a document signed in Paris in 1899, which establishes territorial limits that Venezuela does not accept.
The controversy intensified in recent years after the North American oil company Exxon Mobil discovered, in 2015, several crude oil reserves in the territorial waters of the disputed area.
Source: TSF
