by Cauf Skiviers, Cultural Inappropriation, ©2023
(Nov. 1, 2023) — Joe Biden might soon long for simpler times when he thought he was gently sleepwalking America into WW3, through a nightmare that would be over only after his ticket was up. But the road is getting bumpier and bumpier, and the world’s got a lead foot with no brakes.
With America’s hands seemingly full — Ukraine, Israel, and not far behind, Taiwan — now, down south, Venezuela is making moves, pushing forward with a national referendum on December 3rd over the disputed territory of Essequibo — an area of 53,000 square miles, about the size of Alabama or Greece, currently belonging to neighbouring Guyana, a former British colony.
Essequibo is, of course, oil-rich. Estimates put reserves at 1.4 billion barrels of high-quality crude oil, or $115 billion at today’s prices. And it’s not just oil; the region is rich in other natural resources, including gold, diamonds, and timber.
The upcoming referendum asks five questions. First, a call to reject the Paris Arbitration Award of 1899 as “fraudulent”; second, for the support of the Geneva Agreement of 1966; third, the rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Essequibo — where the matter has been since 2018; fourth, it asks to oppose “by all legal means” Guyana’s claim over the shore. All just diplomatic mise-en-scène. The fifth question, though, is problematic:
5) Do you agree with the creation of the Essequibo state and the development of an accelerated plan for comprehensive care for the current and future population of that territory that includes, among others, the granting of citizenship and a Venezuelan identity card, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement and international law, consequently incorporating said state on the map of Venezuelan territory?
The government of Guyana’s stance is clear: Venezuela’s vote “amounts to nothing less than the annexation of Guyana’s territory,” and the seizure of “two-thirds of Guyana’s territory […] would constitute an international crime of aggression.” Guyana warns that this action has the potential “to incite violence and threaten the peace and security of the State of Guyana and, by extension, the Caribbean region.”
The long-standing conflict flared up again last month when Guyana offered oil leases in the disputed territory, receiving bids for eight offshore oil & gas exploration blocks, including from US oil giant Exxon Mobil. In response, Venezuela advised prospective bidders to consider any licences issued by Guyana as “null and void.”
It’s important to note that Exxon Mobil is deep in this game already. In 2015, the company announced a significant oil discovery off the coast of Guyana — as much as 700 million barrels of crude, potentially worth as much as $58 billion. It goes without saying that Exxon has influential friends up in Washington, D.C.
Exxon’s siding with the Guyanese government makes sense. Back in 2007, former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez helped himself to $10 billion of Exxon’s assets by nationalising the companies’ interests — for which Exxon was recently awarded a meager $77 million in claims.
Fast forward to 2015, when the current Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, signed a decree creating a “defence zone” offshore, theoretically cutting Guyana’s access to the Atlantic Ocean — and establishing sovereignty over the coastal waters that include Exxon’s reserves.
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