BRINK OF WAR: Dictator Maduro Declares Oil-Rich Esequibo Region Part of Venezuela, Appoints Military Authority for the Area – Guyana Loses Troops in Helicopter Crash
The world has become a dangerous place, with as much as 55 conflicts in the world, which is a record since the Second World War, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
While the US is involved in multiple military conflict all over the planet, a new, dangerous one is about to erupt a mere 2 thousand miles from Florida, in the Western Hemisphere zone of primary American influence.
There, in former British colony of Guyana, much like so many other hot-spots around the planet, the territorial dispute is predicated on the massive Oil fields discovered in its territorial waters.
A mere two days after the referendum on the disputed area of Essequibo, the Venezuelan government of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro is moving forward, trying to enforce what was allegedly approved in the referendum.
The vote registered almost no participation in the streets, but was hailed as a ‘victory’ by the Bolivarians.
The feared rigged vote brings back a crisis of credibility in the country’s electoral authorities.
El Pais reported:
“In a television appearance Tuesday, Maduro presented a new official map of Venezuela with Essequibo incorporated, without the disputed delimitation, during a Council of State in which he announced a series of measures and upcoming legislation to cement Caracas’ possession of the territory and its resources. Earlier, Maduro had sent a military contingent to Puerto Barima on the Venezuelan Atlantic border, close to the limits of the area under claim.
[…] Via a special law announced Tuesday, he will create a new province or state in the territory, having already appointed a single provisional authority: Major-General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello, a deputy for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), who will operate from the mining community of Tumeremo in Bolívar state, barely 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the town of San Martín de Turumbang in the disputed area.
‘We want the peaceful rescue of the Guayana Esequiba’, said Maduro. ‘Our Guayana Esequiba has been de facto occupied by the British Empire and its heirs and they have destroyed the area’.”
Maduro instructed state oil company PDVSA to ‘draw up a map of exploration and exploitation of the resources in Essequibo’.
He further ordered the National Assembly to draft a law that prohibits oil concessions granted by Guyana in the territorial sea.
Guyana and its allies are mobilizing for defense.
“’We are very concerned that President Maduro and the government of Venezuela can use their own internal scenario and internal politics to create an instability within our region, to create fear and terror within the hearts and minds of their neighbors’, said Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali Tuesday in an interview with France 24.”
Venezuela has insisted that the International Court of Justice does not have jurisdiction to settle the dispute.
“’The international community has a great responsibility to ensure that peace prevails. Many countries are supporting Guyana in a peaceful resolution that must come out of the ICJ process’, the Guyanese president said. ‘We are working with our partners in the U.S. Departments of State and Defense to ensure that Guyana is not caught off guard and is prepared, and also to act as a country that respects the rule of law and international order’.”
Neighboring Brazil, expressed concern over the escalation of the territorial dispute. President Lula da Silva reinforced the military deployment on the border.
The way things are going, it won’t be long until the US finds itself involved too.
While the military confrontation hasn’t even started, the Guyanese Armed Forces already has officers missing in a crashed helicopter.
The Guyana Armed Forces stated that there is no evidence yet to indicate any role for Venezuela in the incident.
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