Tensions on Tuesday rose between Venezuela and Guyana as Caracas proposed a bill to create a Venezuelan province in a disputed oil-rich region and ordered the state oil company to issue licenses for extracting crude there.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed at a government meeting that a bill be sent to the National Assembly for the creation of a “Guyana Esequiba” province in a region Guyana has administered for more than a century.
He also said oil, gas and mining licenses must be issued immediately.
Photo: AFP / VENEZUELAN PRESIDENCY / ZURIMAR CAMPOS
Guyanese President Irfaan Ali called Maduro’s statements a “direct threat” against his country, and rejected the measures announced by the Venezuelan leader.
On Sunday, Venezuela held a controversial nonbinding referendum on the region’s fate that yielded an overwhelming 95 percent “yes” vote for Caracas’ designs on Essequibo, or Esequiba as it is known in Venezuela.
Maduro gave an ultimatum to oil companies working under concessions given by Guyana to withdraw their operations within three months.
He also said a town bordering the disputed area, Tumeremo, would become headquarters of Venezuelan efforts to defend its interests there, adding that authorities would conduct a census and begin issuing identity cards without giving details of how that would occur.
Earlier on Tuesday, Guyana said it would approach the UN Security Council for help if Venezuela makes any moves following the referendum, which Guyana had sought to stop with an urgent application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Guyanese Attorney General Anil Nandlall said that “any action or any attempt to take any action pursuant to the referendum will necessitate a resort to the UN Security Council as an injured party.”
He said Guyana would invoke Articles 41 and 42 of the UN Charter which can authorize sanctions or military action to maintain or restore international peace and security.
“In terms of military, it [the UN Security Council] can authorize the use of armed forces by member states to assist in the enforcement” of ICJ orders, Nandlall said.
The Essequibo region makes up more than two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens.
Litigation is pending before the ICJ over where the borders should lie.
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