An understanding of contemporary geopolitics is key to studying politics, it allows student to implement recent and up to date examples into their work. However, as the mainstream media is dominated by a range of different stories, many new and important stories go unnoticed.
Due to the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel-Palestine conflict many are unaware of developments in the North of South America.
Venezuela threatens to annex parts of Guyana
- President Maduro is facing criticism due to his role in the humanitarian crisis that Venezuela has experienced in recent years as well as democratic backsliding
- Facing ‘elections’ next year many believe his recent actions are only a political stunt trying to win re-election
What happened ?
- In a TV appearance this week, Maduro presented a map that showed Guyana’s Esequibo region as part of Venezuela
- He told a crowd of supporters and officials that he would create the Venezuelan state Guyana Esequiba, grant Venezuelan citizenship to its Guyanese residents, license the state oil company PDVSA and state metal conglomerate CVG to search it for oil and order energy companies currently there, to leave in three months.
- The reaction has been swift. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva offered Thursday to mediate between the South American neighbours. The U.N. Security Council scheduled a closed-door meeting on the matter for Friday. The U.S. Embassy in Guyana announced joint flight operations
on Thursday by the Guyana Defense Force and U.S. Southern Command.
Guyana response
- Guyana has repeatedly rejected those claims, saying an 1899 international arbitration resolved the dispute. Venezuela has challenged the validity of that ruling.
- After discovering massive reserves of il in the ocean floor, it has become one of the worlds fastest-growing economies
Brazilian response
- Brazil reinforced its northern border with armoured vehicles and more troops, Reuters reported this week. Because Esequibo is largely inaccessible, the main road connecting Venezuela and Guyana runs through Brazil. Senior Brazilian diplomats have conveyed serious concerns to Venezuela, Reuters reported.
Many hope that this is merely an attempt for Maduro to rile up nationalism and support, the complications for this would be fatal for Venezuela as they only just managed to drop some sanctions issued by the U,S which crippled their economy. It is definitely a story to watch.