In a situation completely unthinkable for today, Venezuela is voting this Sunday in a national plebiscite on whether its military should invade and annex the Essequibo region, which lies in neighboring Guyana.
Essequibo, with an area of 160 thousand square kilometers and a population of 120 thousand inhabitants, corresponds to almost 70% of the entire territory of Guyana and is extremely rich in diamonds, gold, nickel, bauxite and, mainly, oil.
The popular poll was determined by Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, who is running a full campaign for another re-election as the country’s president and has used the possibility of annexing much of the neighboring country to try to boost popularity by promising more wealth for the country of Venezuela.
Many international analysts believe Maduro’s threat to invade a neighboring country is just election rhetoric, but others warn that with him you never know and that everyone in the region had better be prepared for the worst.
This is exactly what Brazil has already done, which during this week sent troops, tanks and large quantities of ammunition to Pacaraima, the main city in the border region with Venezuela and where, in the event Maduro does decide to invade Guyana by land, on a large scale , Venezuelan troops will have to pass.
Venezuela has a direct border with Guyana, but the terrain on the Guyanese side is so rugged and covered with such thick and dense forest that it makes a land invasion impossible, and Venezuela, if it wants to carry out this crazy action, must enter Brazil. via Pacaraima, travel to the Brazilian cities of Bonfim and Normandy, and then enter Guyana via much more accessible routes.
With far less military power than strong Venezuela, and armed over the past few years with the most advanced equipment from China and mainly Russia, Guyana is also preparing as best it can for a possible invasion.
Unable to resist the Venezuelan armed forces, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali turned to other countries for help, and a few days ago, representatives of the US Department of Defense already met with him in the capital Georgetown, and there is a great opportunity for the United States to defend the small South American country in the event of an attack , which will lead to the internationalization of the conflict in a very dangerous way.
The dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the very rich Essequibo region is not new, it dates back to the colonization of South America and has been the subject of legal battles for at least 200 years that the Venezuelans almost always lose. The latest setback came last Friday when the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Venezuela has no right to Essequibo and that any action to annex the territory would be an unlawful act of war against a sovereign country.
Author: Domingos Grilo Serrinha This correspondent in Brazil
Source: CM Jornal
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