Majority in Venezuela votes in favor of annexing large parts of Guyana
According to government figures, the population of Venezuela has voted in a referendum to annex two thirds of the neighboring state of Guyana. At least 10.5 million of the 20 million eligible voters approved the plan to declare the 160,000 square kilometer region of Esequibo part of Venezuelan territory, according to the chairman of the electoral authority, Elvis Amoroso.
There was an approval rate of 95 percent. Large oil deposits are suspected in the area, which is largely made up of dense jungle. The US company Exxon Mobil is one of the companies that has drilled exploratory wells in Guyana.
Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro hailed the vote as a "total success". "The Venezuelan people have spoken loud and clear," he told a cheering crowd. Guyana's President Irfaan Ali had declared at a rally on Sunday that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) prohibited Venezuela from "annexing or entering Guyanese territory".
On Friday, the ICJ had prohibited Venezuela from changing the status quo in the region. Last April, the ICJ declared that it had jurisdiction in the territorial dispute, but did not promise a ruling for years. However, according to the government, the Venezuelans rejected the jurisdiction of the ICJ in Sunday's referendum.
The consequences that the government in Caracas will draw initially remained open. According to the questions posed in the referendum, Esequibo is to become a new federal state of Venezuela. "The aim of the Maduro government is to send a message of strength to Guyana," said Ricardo Sucre, professor of politics at the Central University of Venezuela. The maritime border between the two countries is also controversial.
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Source: www.ntv.de
