Following the fraudulent election of July 2024, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has been actively adding fuel to the fire of the Essequibo territorial dispute with Guyana. Tensions are continuing to rise as Maduro uses his claim over the more than 160,000 square kilometer strip of land that belongs to Guyana to build support as he starts off his third term.
On March 6, Guyana asked the International Court of Justice to prevent the Maduro regime from electing a Venezuelan governor for the Essequibo region.
In early January, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly controlled by the ruling party, had announced that Venezuelans will hold elections for the Guayana Esequiba state in the upcoming regional elections scheduled for May 25.
In March 2024, Venezuelan lawmakers created the new Guayana Esequiba state, while Maduro appointed an Army general as the “government authority” for that territory.
According to Venezuela’s former Interim President Juan Guaidó, the ruling party revived the conflict with Guyana to “normalize” the theft of the presidential election.
When consulted by Diálogo, Guaidó stated that the Venezuelan dictator “is creating this war propaganda […] to have leverage in negotiations with the rest of the countries in the region, especially in the Caribbean, and to seek a de facto situation where he is the one who has to negotiate on behalf of Venezuela.”
Maduro, Guaidó said, uses the Russian strategy of generating “chaos and anxiety” in the region, not only through the conflict with Guyana, but also by encouraging migration and the export of criminals.
In December 2023, the Maduro regime held a consultative referendum, in which it asked citizens whether Venezuela should annex the Essequibo. The National Electoral Council claimed that there were more than 10.5 million votes in favor of annexation, although few voters had been seen at polling sites. Results were not made public.
According to Guaidó, Maduro is set to repeat the strategy this year to give the impression that the people are united around him, against an “external enemy.”
Maritime incident
On January 12, pro-Maduro daily Últimas Noticias, reported the detention of a Guyanese-flagged ship for allegedly transiting Venezuelan waters without permission. The ship, Four Plus, was taken to the port of El Guamache on Margarita Island, and its crew interrogated by military personnel.
According to Retired Venezuelan Army Brigadier General Rodolfo Camacho, this vessel had set sail from the Venezuelan port of Guanta in the state of Anzoátegui, carrying inputs for the oil industry. Therefore, it had the permission of the Bolivarian Ports and Petroleum of Venezuela authorities.
Camacho told Diálogo that this incident was used to fuel the conflict between the two countries. “How can an authority such as Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. allow additives to be loaded onto a ship and the maritime authority authorize it to leave, for it to then be chased when it passes Margarita Island? This seems made up,” Brig. Gen. Camacho said.
On January 15, the Brazilian publication Sociedade Militar reported that the Venezuelan military has been building airstrips, temporary bridges, and camps along the border with Guyana. In response, Brazil set out to carry out an exercise in Roraima state, which borders both Venezuela and Guyana and is the only land route between both countries.
According to Brig. Gen. Camacho, former director of Doctrine at the Armed Forces’ Strategic Operational Command, the operational readiness of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) is currently at no more than 38 percent, and that to undertake a campaign to take over the Essequibo it would be necessary to raise it to more than 70 percent.
Even so, the officer does not rule out that Maduro could order an incursion into Guyanese territory. “The only way they can do something is to enter by sea,” he added.
In 2024, the Venezuelan Navy said to have carried out two amphibious incursion exercises in Turiamo Bay, Aragua state, where the special operations group of the naval institution is based. The training incorporated the use of transport ships and boats equipped with Iranian-made Fajr-1 rockets.
The FANB, Brig. Gen. Camacho said, has set up the headquarters of the 64th Integral Defense Operational zone, corresponding to Essequibo, on Ankoko Island, as well as a center for the Armed Forces Experimental University. This location currently has 60 troops on permanent duty.
He also said that a combat hospital is being built in the town of Tumeremo, in Bolívar state, home of the base coordinating military activities in the border area.
“Lately, the spokespersons of the ruling party have incorporated into their propaganda the preaching that Guyanese and transnational corporations are taking advantage of the wealth of the territory under claim, in order to stir up feelings of nationalism,” Brig. Gen. Camacho said.
