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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://resumen-english.org/2023/12/guyana-a-crushing-victory-of-the-venezuelan-people/">resumen-english.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Guyana: A Crushing Victory of the Venezuelan People</h1>
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<p>By Tala Alayli on December 5, 2023</p>
<div id="gmail-attachment_25377" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25377" src="https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/12-11-esquiabo-300x236.jpg?resize=300%2C236&ssl=1" alt="" width="300" height="236" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"></p><p id="gmail-caption-attachment-25377" class="gmail-wp-caption-text">illustration: Zeinab Elhajj</p></div>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<p>-Fidel Castro<span id="gmail-more-25376"></span></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Post-colonization, still colonized</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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”.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>Regardless, as American pressure and threats against Venezuela
intensified, Venezuela signed the treaty, and Essequibo was officially
colonized.</p>
<p>Imperialist capitalism’s foundation in Guyana Essequibo</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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”.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>2015: A turning point</p>
<p>ExxonMobil had found oil reserves in Essequibo, marking the stirring of the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana anew.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>In parallel, President Nicolas Maduro met with representatives of
religious leaders who declared their support for Venezuela’s just
demands.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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!”</p>
<p>Venezuela’s seventh referendum</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The referendum presented five questions to Venezuelan citizens:</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>Do you agree to oppose Guyana’s unilateral and illegal actions in the
sea before border demarcation, representing a violation of
international law?</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>A quest toward liberation</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/venezuela--a-crushing-victory-of-the-people?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=21f88e7e-5ed8-4044-a40d-3d1291a11d78">Al Mayadeen</a></p>
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