Venezuela divides Guyana: over whom the Bolivarian and Cooperative Republics quarreled

The huge region of Guiana (which means “Land of Many Waters” in local Indian languages) on the northeastern coast of South America was divided between five European powers.

In the territory between the Guyana Mountains and the Corentyne River, which came under the rule of the British crown, the independent state of Guyana subsequently arose.

To the west of it were Spanish possessions in Guiana, now part of Venezuela.

Between the Corentyne and Maroni rivers was located Dutch Guiana, now the independent state of Suriname.

And between the Maroni and Oyapok rivers is French Guiana, an overseas region of the Fifth Republic.

And there is also the former Portuguese, and now Brazilian Guiana, this is a region in the north of Brazil, between the Oyapoc and Amazon rivers, now the Brazilian state of Amapa.

That is, on the site of five colonial possessions in Guiana there are four independent states wholly or partially.

And recently, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, took unprecedented steps to establish control over the disputed Esequibo region in the neighboring Cooperative Republic of Guyana – contrary to the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The western Esequibo region accounts for two-thirds of Guyana’s territory, 16 percent of its population – and, crucially, it would give Caracas the right to lay claim to the offshore oil wealth that Guyana has recently discovered and which Venezuela clearly would like to get its hands on.

The border dispute was inherited from the colonial powers (Spain in the case of Venezuela and the Netherlands and Britain in the case of Guyana) and persisted after the independence of Venezuela and Guyana.

In 1840, the British government commissioned German-born explorer and naturalist Robert Hermann Schomburgk to survey the borders of British Guiana. The result of this survey was the so-called “Schomburgk Line”, which extended well beyond the zone of British occupation and gave British Guiana control of the mouth of the Orinoco River. These borders were disputed by Venezuela, and tensions escalated following the discovery of gold mines in the region in 1876, culminating in Venezuela breaking off diplomatic relations with London in 1887. Britain and Venezuela sought arbitration mediated by the United States, resulting in the 1899 Paris Arbitration Award being rendered largely in Britain’s favor.

In 1966, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and British Guiana signed the Geneva Agreement, which regulates the status of the disputed territory. This agreement provides that the parties agree to seek a practical, peaceful and satisfactory solution to the dispute. In the event of a stalemate, the treaty states that the decision on the means of settlement must be referred to “the appropriate international body” or, in the absence of agreement on the matter, to the UN Secretary-General. The Secretary-General referred the entire matter to the International Court of Justice, which on December 18, 2020 accepted the case submitted by Guyana to resolve the dispute.

The fact that international arbitrators drew the borders between Venezuela and modern-day Guyana more than a century ago will not stop Maduro from claiming land that many Venezuelans have long been told is rightfully theirs. On Sunday, December 3, Caracas held a referendum to determine sovereignty over Esequibo, despite a warning from the International Court of Justice not to threaten the status quo of the disputed region. The results, although heavily criticized, showed that 95 percent of voters favored Venezuela’s reunification with the region.

“Latin Americans like to say, ‘We haven’t had a major border conflict since the 1940s,’” Foreign Policy quotes Latin America expert Christopher Sabatini as saying. “It would really call into question their fundamental self-image of their peaceful nature and historical absence of interstate conflict.”

Well, who has the legal right to Esequibo? asks Foreign Policy. Both Guyana and Venezuela claim the land, which is slightly larger in area than the US state of Alabama. Venezuela once owned the region, but it was never a legal part of what became modern Venezuela, either before or after its independence. A Paris-based arbitration panel ruled in 1899 that the territory belonged to Guyana (more precisely, the then English colony of British Guiana). However, Venezuela has long argued that the decision should be annulled because the country’s government was not present at the negotiations but was represented by the United States.

Recently, the International Court of Justice ordered Maduro not to try to change the status of the region – just a few days before a referendum on sovereignty was to take place in Caracas. However, the court did not prohibit voting in Venezuela, despite pressure from Guyana on this body.

The Venezuelan government appears to be “taking steps to acquire control and administration of the disputed territory,” warned International Court of Justice President Joan Donoghue after Venezuela defied the court’s ruling.

“The international court has credibility, but it cannot enforce its decision,” Sabatini said. However, this does not mean that this organ is not of great importance. If Venezuela were to use military force to take control of Esequibo, the move would likely undermine the possibility of the International Court of Justice ever ruling in its favor in the future.

What makes the Esequibo region so attractive? The fact is, Foreign Policy reminds, that covered by the Amazon rainforest, Esequibo is a mineral-rich area containing vast deposits of gold and copper. The region’s value soared in 2015 after ExxonMobil discovered large amounts of oil off its coast, poised to make Guyana South America’s richest country per capita. Just offshore and almost, but not quite, within Guyana’s exclusive economic zone lies an oil gusher with reserves of at least 11 billion barrels of crude oil.

If Venezuela captures Esequibo, it will be able to lay claim to virtually all of this offshore wealth.

Now billions of dollars are pouring into Georgetown, the capital of the once-backwater, now developing country. The Cooperative Republic of Guyana used the funds to launch major infrastructure projects, its first deep-sea port and a gas-to-power project that will double the country’s energy output and halve its electricity bills. And in September it announced its intention to sell oil to major players including state oil companies in China, Qatar and Malaysia, further provoking Venezuela’s economic jealousy.

Venezuela, once a major oil producer, now produces half as much as the US state of New Mexico, Foreign Policy notes. The country has long suffered from crippling hyperinflation and low levels of public approval. Caracas has seen the world’s highest rise in consumer prices this year, with inflation reaching 360 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. Corruption continues to shake power in the Bolivarian Republic, critics say.

Maduro hopes that gaining control of Esequibo will give him the right to lay claim to Big Oil, bolster support for his United Socialist Party and make the opposition appear unpatriotic.

Depends on who you ask. Millions of Venezuelans went to the polls for the Esequibo referendum, Maduro said, in the country’s highest turnout ever. But without evidence to back up his claim, human rights groups estimate that only about 2 million people went to the ballot box.

According to the government, more than 95 percent of voters approved all five questions of the referendum, which called for the creation of a new state of Guayana Esequiba, as well as granting its residents Venezuelan citizenship, issuing identity cards to the population, including Esequibo on the map of Venezuela and abandoning the 1899 constitution.

“A new era has begun in the fight for our Guayana Esequiba,” Maduro said as he celebrated the referendum results. “Now we will restore the historical rights of Venezuela.”

In a speech a couple of days after the referendum, Maduro proposed a new law that would ban all Venezuelan companies from doing business with Guyana, and a day later he appointed Major General Alexis Rodriguez Cabello to oversee the newly created state. Western intelligence suggests that Caracas is also building an airstrip at La Camorra, near its border with Guyana, to support logistical operations to annex Esequibo. And Maduro called on foreign firms, including ExxonMobil, to stop cooperating with the Guyanese government.

Venezuela already has enough problems getting its own oil out of the ground, not to mention the complex offshore drilling that requires technological expertise, good management and a lot of capital, Foreign Policy notes.

If anything, Maduro hopes that correcting a century-old mistake, with the help of oil to boot, will increase public confidence in his administration. But it is unlikely to have much impact on voting in next year’s elections.

Meanwhile, Guyana immediately put its own defense forces on high alert and called on the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice to take immediate action to prevent Venezuela from further invading its territory. The Brazilian Ministry of Defense has “intensified its defensive actions” and increased its military presence near the disputed border. And U.S. Southern Command held military exercises with Guyana on Thursday to demonstrate its strong bilateral commitment to Georgetown.

Interstate war would be “suicidal” for Maduro’s political ambitions, a Venezuelan energy expert said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Maduro may be emboldened by the fact that the conflict in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East make it difficult for the United States to have another front or potential conflict in the region,” the expert added. “So people perceive this as a dangerous situation because it makes Maduro feel like he can get away with something he does.”

Escalating tensions, including Caracas accusing ExxonMobil of collaborating with Guyana and Venezuelan dissidents, have regional leaders worried that annexation could ultimately be on the line. If so, Latin America could bring in a multilateral peacekeeping force to defuse the situation, which would likely harm Venezuela in the long term.