[News] Guyana: A Crushing Victory of the Venezuelan People

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Guyana: A Crushing Victory of the Venezuelan People
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By Tala Alayli on December 5, 2023

illustration: Zeinab Elhajj

*Venezuela, given its extraordinary educational, cultural, and social
developments, and its vast energy and natural resources, is called on to
become a revolutionary model for the world.*

-Fidel Castro

This report showcases the struggle of Venezuela and Guyana in the Essequibo
case, and the recent victory of the Venezuelan people in Venezuela’s
seventh referendum, which was focused on acquiring back Caracas’ colonized
lands.

When valuable natural resources were discovered in the Venezuelan lands of
Essequibo, the British colonizers manipulated maps and clawed the
territories, constituting them into British Guiana, now known as Guyana
post-independence. Since then, a regional dispute has emerged, as Venezuela
fights for what is rightfully its own, and Western imperialism fights to
guarantee the theft of overseas resources.

Post-colonization, still colonized

In the 1800s, German explorer and colonizer for Britain, Robert Schomburgk,
revealed that Britain’s incursion toward South America could be done
through Essequibo and the Orinico territories. However, as Venezuela had
officially been recognized as an independent country, and as Essequibo was
found to have gold reserves, maps were quickly drawn altering the official
borders and including them into British Guiana’s geography, putting
Essequibo under Western rule.

This came in violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty, as the latter appealed
to the United States and reiterated the Monroe Doctrine, stating that
European efforts of colonization of nations under the protection of the US
would be considered as a form of aggression and would be met by US
intervention. A treaty, the Paris Arbitral Award, was conceived by the
United States and Britain to find a resolution to Venezuela’s complaint.

In a study by Rafael Badell titled “Venezuela’s Claim to the Essequibo”, it
was revealed that Venezuela’s participation in the treaty was a mere
signature forced by the colonial giants, who had been forming a “special
relationship”.

“The circumstances in which this Treaty was reached are the tip of a thread
of a skein marked by fraud and deceit, which permitted the irregular
constitution of a tribunal lacking in impartiality, which continued with a
procedural farce, which culminated in a rigged arbitral award”, Dr. Badell
claimed.

Regardless, as American pressure and threats against Venezuela intensified,
Venezuela signed the treaty, and Essequibo was officially colonized.

Imperialist capitalism’s foundation in Guyana Essequibo

Later throughout the 20th century, the world saw the United Kingdom turn
into an empire characterized by the Commonwealth, a group of countries that
were previously British colonies. The Western narrative stated that
Commonwealth nations were instituted because they sought political and
economic progression, but the colonizer latches onto a nation, not for
reform, not for freedom, but for resources. Thus, Guyana was instituted as
a Commonwealth nation, rendering the influence of British capitalism
possible in the country.

In late 1999, Guyana signed an energy deal with US-based conglomerate
ExxonMobil, as a means to bring in more money into the country. In this
scenario, and given the West’s colonial history that seeks out internal
exploitation of poor countries and the export of rich resources, a clear
ploy was being devised in which the US gains and manipulates accounting
sheets with taxes, exploration, and labor costs, leaves Guyana with a
proportion of the proportion of profits, and Guyana loses.

At the heart of Western deals that are thought to boost Guyana’s economy,
it remains one of the poorest countries in Latin America with a life
expectancy of 66, an unemployment rate of 21.7%, and an infant mortality
rate of 33.5 per 1,000 live births.

Therefore, imperialist capitalism secured its economic foundations in the
region within Guyana, something Venezuela criticizes as foreign
interference in domestic and regional affairs, and constituting a
destabilizing factor in the region.

Despite rigged treaties and colonial maps, Venezuela remained steadfast in
its recognition of its lands, backed by maps and evidence confirming
Guyana’s status as part of Venezuela when the country gained independence
in 1811. Historian Jesus Conari emphasizes that historical maps show the
region under Spanish control, not British.

Venezuela held meetings with British representatives to annul what was done
by the colonialists. In 1963, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister sent an aide
with Venezuela’s arguments and demands to reinstitute Essequibo back to
Venezuelan lands. In 1964, Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt took to
the National Congress and reiterated the efforts done by Venezuela in front
of the British, and stated, “Negotiations have continued and, for the good
of the Republic and to repair an injustice done to Venezuela, they must be
continued. The culmination of these negotiations must be the incorporation
to the national territory of an area that, from a legal historical point of
view, never ceased to belong to Venezuela”.

This meeting built the foundations of the Geneva Agreement of 1966, a
milestone in Venezuela’s journey to taking back its usurped lands. The
Geneva Agreement was the first of its kind to recognize Venezuela’s
disputation of the Paris Arbitral Award and thereby provided that the
conflict be resolved with both Venezuela and Guyana present, rather than
their colonial counterparts, the US and Britain respectively. The agreement
would persist until 2015.

2015: A turning point

ExxonMobil had found oil reserves in Essequibo, marking the stirring of the
dispute between Venezuela and Guyana anew.

ExxonMobil continued drilling in Venezuelan territorial waters,
disregarding any maritime or land demarcation. Venezuela unified, with both
the government and opposition unprecedentedly supporting the cause. Despite
internal political divisions, most opposition leaders endorsed the
government’s decision not to abandon Essequibo and supported conducting a
referendum.

In parallel, President Nicolas Maduro met with representatives of religious
leaders who declared their support for Venezuela’s just demands.

In April this year, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said
Venezuela’s armed forces maintain the country’s territorial integrity and
will continue to defend Caracas’ claims to the Guyana Essequibo territory,
which has been challenged by neighboring Guyana for over 100 years.

He tweeted that “the armed forces reaffirm their commitment to guarantee
the territorial integrity of Venezuela. We have historical and legal
reasons and all the will of the state of Venezuela to keep defending our
legitimate claim over Guayana Esequiba. Esequiba is ours!”

Venezuela’s seventh referendum

Venezuela held its seventh referendum with a focus on the Essequibo case.
The government, led by President Nicolas Maduro, demonstrated its
commitment to the principle of returning decisions to the people when
necessary.

The referendum presented five questions to Venezuelan citizens:

Do you agree to reject the arbitration decision made in Paris in 1899,
which, through deception, seeks to deprive us of our Essequibo in violation
of the law?

Do you support the Geneva Agreement of 1966 as the only legal tool for
achieving a practical and agreed-upon solution for Venezuela and Guyana
regarding the Asicobo dispute?

Do you agree with Venezuela’s historical position of not recognizing the
International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction in resolving regional
conflicts related to Essequibo?

Do you agree to oppose Guyana’s unilateral and illegal actions in the sea
before border demarcation, representing a violation of international law?

Do you agree to establish Guayana Essequibo as a state affiliated with
Venezuela, implementing a rapid and comprehensive plan for the current and
future residents, including granting Venezuelan citizenship and
identification cards, in line with the Geneva Agreement and international
law, thus incorporating it into Venezuela’s territory?

As the voting concluded, a crushing majority of Venezuelans voted in favor
of reacquiring their rightful land. More than 95% of Venezuelans voted to
establish a new Essequiban state under Venezuelan rule.

A quest toward liberation

As President Nicolas Maduro announced the victory of the referendum and as
the people of Venezuela have spoken, what can be seen is a quest toward
liberation, beginning with Venezuela and spreading toward the colonized
people of the Global South.

To quote Walter Rodney: Only through revolutionary anti-imperialist
solidarity can we disrupt the hegemony of imperialist capital and with it
the exploitation of labor and natural resources in the Global South.

Source: Al Mayadeen
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/venezuela--a-crushing-victory-of-the-people?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=21f88e7e-5ed8-4044-a40d-3d1291a11d78>
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