Venezuelans on Sunday approved a referendum called by President Nicolás Maduro’s government to claim sovereignty over a part of neighboring Guyana rich in oil and minerals, the country’s electoral authority announced.
Few voters could be seen at polling stations during the voting period for the five-question referendum, but the National Electoral Council claimed to have counted more than 10.5 million votes. The council, however, did not explain whether the number of votes was equivalent to one voter or whether it was the sum of each individual response.
Venezuela has long argued that the territory was stolen when the border was drawn more than a century ago. But Guyana sees the referendum as a step toward annexation, and the vote has its residents nervous.
Venezuelan voters were asked whether they support establishing a state in the disputed territory, known as Essequibo, granting citizenship to current and future residents of the area and rejecting the jurisdiction of the United Nations’ highest court to resolve the disagreement between South American countries.
Members of the Venezuelan Armed Forces stand on the day of an electoral referendum on Venezuela’s rights over the potentially oil-rich Essequiba region, which has long been the subject of a border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana, in Caracas , Venezuela, on December 3. , 2023. REUTERS
“It has been a total success for our country, for our democracy,” Maduro told his supporters gathered in Caracas, the capital, after the results were announced, before highlighting the “very important level of participation of the people” in the referendum.
Throughout Sunday, long lines typical of electoral events did not form outside the voting centers in Caracas. Still, before the 12-hour voting session ended, the country’s top electoral authority, Elvis Amoroso, announced that the polls would remain open for two more hours due to what he described as a “massive turnout.”
If the participation figure offered by Amoroso refers to voters, it would mean that more people voted in the referendum than for Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s mentor and predecessor, when he was re-elected in the 2012 presidential race. But it does equal each individual response marked by voters, turnout could fall to as low as 2.1 million voters.
Diosdado Cabello, deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela, gestures as he speaks after the National Electoral Council published the results of the consultative referendum on Venezuelan sovereignty over the Essequibo, in Caracas, on December 3, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Activity at polling stations Sunday in Caracas paled in comparison to the hours-long lines that formed outside the polls during presidential primaries held by an opposition faction in October without assistance from the National Electoral Council.
More than 2.4 million people participated in the primaries, a figure that government officials declared mathematically impossible given the number of voting centers available and the time it takes for a person to cast a paper vote. State media attributed the lack of wait times on Sunday to the rapid speed with which people cast their electronic votes.
Maduro told supporters celebrating the results that it only took him 15 seconds to vote early Sunday.
The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana’s control over Essequibo, but the judges did not specifically prohibit officials from carrying out Sunday’s five-question referendum. Guyana had asked the court to order Venezuela to suspend part of the vote.
A member of the Venezuelan Armed Forces stands on the day of an electoral referendum on Venezuela’s rights to the potentially oil-rich Essequiba region in Caracas, Venezuela, December 3, 2023. REUTERS
Although the practical and legal implications of the referendum remain unclear, in comments explaining Friday’s verdict, the president of the international court, Joan E. Donoghue, said that the Venezuelan government’s statements suggest that it “is taking measures with a view to to acquire control and administration of the disputed territory”. “
“In addition, Venezuelan military officials announced that Venezuela is taking concrete steps to build a landing strip that will serve as a ‘logistical support point for the comprehensive development of Essequibo,’” he said.
The 61,600-square-mile (159,500-square-kilometer) territory represents two-thirds of Guyana and also borders Brazil, whose Ministry of Defense earlier this week in a statement said it has “intensified its defense actions” and increased its military presence. in the region as a result of the dispute.
Essequibo is larger than Greece and rich in minerals. It also provides access to an area of the Atlantic where energy giant ExxonMobil discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2015, which caught the attention of the Maduro government.
Venezuela’s government promoted the referendum for weeks, framing participation as an act of patriotism and often combining it with a show of support for Maduro.
Venezuela has always considered Essequibo as its own because the region was within its borders during the Spanish colonial period, and has long disputed the border decided by international arbitrators in 1899, when Guyana was still a British colony.
That limit was decided by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States. The United States represented Venezuela on the panel in part because the Venezuelan government had broken diplomatic relations with Britain.
The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, greets his supporters before giving a speech when the National Electoral Council issued the results of the consultative referendum on Venezuelan sovereignty over the Essequibo, in Caracas on December 3, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Venezuelan officials maintain that Americans and Europeans conspired to deceive their country out of land and argue that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration.
Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, maintains that the initial agreement is legal and binding and asked the International Court of Justice in 2018 to rule it as such, but a decision is years away.
Start your day with everything you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
Voters had to answer on Sunday whether they “agree to reject by all means, in accordance with the law,” the 1899 border and whether they support the 1966 agreement “as the only valid legal instrument” to reach a solution.
“I came to vote because Essequibo is ours, and I hope that what they are going to do, they think carefully and remember to never put peace at risk,” said merchant Juan Carlos Rodríguez, 37, after voting in a center in Caracas where only a handful of people were in line.
Maduro had put the full weight of his government into the effort. Essequibo-themed music, nationally televised history lessons, murals, rallies and social media content helped the government divert people’s attention from pressing issues, including growing pressure from the United States government. United on Maduro to free political prisoners and unjustly detained Americans, as well as to ensure free and fair conditions in next year’s presidential elections.
In a tour of the voting centers in Caracas carried out by The Associated Press, in some of them lines of about 30 people could be seen, while in others voters did not have to wait at all to cast their vote. That contrasts with other electoral processes in which hundreds of people gathered outside voting centers from the beginning.
Angela Albornoz, a grassroots organizer for the ruling party, told the AP that she estimated that between 23% and 24% of voters assigned to her voting center cast their ballots on Sunday. Albornoz, 62, said that figure was below her expectations for an event intended to bring together all Venezuelans “regardless of politics.”
Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Sunday sought to reassure Guyanese concerned about the referendum, telling them they “have nothing to fear in the coming hours, days and months.” He said Guyana is using diplomacy as its “first line of defense” and is continually working to ensure its borders “remain intact.”
“I want to warn Venezuela that this is an opportunity for them to demonstrate maturity, an opportunity for them to demonstrate responsibility, and we call on them once again to join us in allowing the rule of law to function and determine the outcome of this conflict. controversy,” Ali said.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn