2023-12-04 09:24:00
Venezuelans have voted: a large majority is calling for a new Venezuelan federal state in the Essequibo region. But it has belonged to the neighboring state of Guyana for centuries. An old border dispute flares up again.
By Dayala Lang, ARD Mexico City, currently Guyana
“Guyana is my home, everything I’ve ever known. Venezuela will never win,” recited a tenth grader, earning huge applause from her classmates for the emotional poem.
It is not a regular school day in Guyana, but rather a government-mandated awareness event that takes place simultaneously in all schools in the country. One of many events intended to raise awareness for the Guyanese Essequibo area, which Venezuela wants to annex.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrated the referendum result in front of hundreds of supporters in Plaza Bolívar in the capital Caracas. Almost 96 percent of voters were in favor of Venezuela’s claim to the Essequibo region in neighboring Guyana.
Fear and uncertainty
The Essequibo area is larger than Greece. Essequibo accounts for two-thirds of Guyana’s area and consists predominantly of rainforest and savanna. The majority of the Essequibo population is indigenous and cannot imagine belonging to any country other than Guyana.
This is also the case for Sharla, an entrepreneur and mother of four children who lives in the small town of Lethem, in the south of the country, on the Brazilian border. “Right now I’m very tense as a parent. We don’t know what will happen from December 4th,” she says. Your children would be very afraid. “My 7-year-old daughter heard at school that there was going to be a war. And she said, I want to be the first to die. Because she doesn’t want to see what will happen.”
An old conflict
The conflict is centuries old and was fought between the then colonial powers Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain. In 1899, an international arbitration court ruled: Essequibo belongs to the colony of British Guiana. Venezuela initially accepted this. But the border dispute has been simmering again since the 1960s.
Likewise, Guyana’s unofficial anthem “Not A Blade Of Grass” is decades old – and brand new again. “We don’t give up mountains, not a river, not even a blade of grass” is what is heard on the streets, from the office television, from car radios and smartphone speakers.
In 2015, Venezuela’s interest in Guayana Essequiba, its Spanish name, increased. That year, the US company ExxonMobil found oil off the coast there.
International Court of Justice should bring clarity
Guyana wants clarity and a final demarcation of the border from 1899. The country is hoping for a ruling from the International Court of Justice in The Hague. This is still pending. But on December 1, 2023, two days before the referendum, the UN Court confirmed: Venezuela should refrain from any actions that would change the status quo until there is final ruling from the court.
Carl Greenidge, who represents Guyana in the case, sees this as a success: “The court responded to Guyana’s application with a unanimous judgment,” he says. However, he doesn’t know what happens next. “Venezuela is a country that is very unpredictable. But I know that Guyana must take every precaution to protect national interests.”
“Our country doesn’t want to fight against anyone”
But how is that supposed to work in the country that is one of the poorest in South America and has no defense experience? The people describe themselves as a peaceful people. The same goes for taxi driver Gemil from the port city of Parika: “Our country doesn’t want to fight against anyone.” They also don’t have the means to obtain weapons, he says.
The people of Guyana realize that they have no chance against the Venezuelan military. They count on international support, especially from the USA and Brazil. And: to pray. Joint interfaith prayer events take place throughout Guyana. In the country where Christians, Hindus and Muslims live together peacefully.
Dayala Lang, tagesschau, December 4th, 2023 8:00 a.m
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