Venezuela’s president has made several announcements regarding Esequibo, in conflict with neighboring Guyana, two days after Venezuelans voted in favor of the government’s intentions to annex the territory in a consultative referendum.
The announcements were made during a Federal Council of Government (CFG), with the participation of the State Council and the National Defense Council (CDF), which took place at the auditorium of the Military University of the Army, in Forte de Tiúna, the main city of Caracas. military base.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has announced the creation of a broad National High Commission for the Defense of Esequibo, which will consist of the CDF, the CFG, the National Security Council, the country’s political, religious and academic sectors . , in particular universities, and this will be coordinated by Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez.
Nicolás Maduro instructed the National Assembly to commence debate and approve the Organic Law for the establishment of Guyana Esequiba in the disputed territory.
“A [vizinha] Guyana must know that we will solve this by trick or treat (…) because it will be an organic law for all governments and future generations (…) everything is done in democracy, in peace, in freedom” , he emphasized.
On the other hand, he announced the establishment of the Guyana Esequibo Comprehensive Defense Zone [REDI] which will have three areas and 28 sectors of integral development, militarily and administratively dependent on REDI of the Venezuelan State of Guaiana [sudeste do país].
Maduro appointed Venezuelan Army Major General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello as the sole authority for the area, whose political and administrative headquarters will be located in Tumeremo. [sudeste] where an office of the Identification, Migration and Alien Administration Service will be opened [equivalente em Portugal à Agência de Integração, Migrações e Asilo, antigo Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras].
In the energy field, the President of Venezuela has instructed the state-owned companies Petróleos da Venezuela SA (PDVSA) and the Venezuelan Corporation of Guiaana (CVG) to create the PDVSA Esequibo and CVG Esequibo divisions, to grant operational licenses for the extraction and exploration of oil, gas and minerals.
During the Federal Council of Government, Nicolás Maduro ordered the immediate publication of a new, complete map of Venezuela, which will include the territory but without indicating the “claimed zone”, which will be distributed in all educational institutions and Venezuelan homes.
The government official authorized the activation of a social care plan for the local population, which includes conducting a census, granting Venezuelan nationality and issuing identity cards to the population of that region.
Still during the Federal Council of Government, Nicolás Maduro proposed the introduction of a “special law” that would give companies a period of “three months” to cease operations in undemarcated waters claimed by Venezuela, emphasizing that Caracas’ open to discussions’. “.
The declaration of environmental protection areas in Guyana Esequibo and the non-recognition by the International Court of Justice were other issues addressed by the Head of State.
The Esequibo region, which appears on Venezuelan maps as a “zone under claim,” has been under UN mediation since 1966, when the Geneva Agreement was signed.
Covering an area of 160,000 square kilometers and rich in minerals, Esequibo is under the administration of Guyana, based on a document signed in Paris in 1899, which establishes territorial boundaries that Venezuela does not accept.
In 2015, ExxonMobil discovered several oil deposits in Esequibo.
Meanwhile, Guyana has already allowed eight foreign oil companies to explore oil reserves in the waters claimed by Venezuela.
Source: DN
