https://www.newsweek.com/venezuela-guyana-essequibo-map-referendum-1849209
Venezuelans voted in favor of claiming sovereignty over a vast swathe of neighboring country Guyana on Sunday, according to the nation's election officials, raising fresh fears that President Nicolás Maduro could seek to annex the territory by force.
The National Election Council claimed to have counted more than 10.5 million votes in a referendum, the Associated Press reported. The council, however, did not explain whether the number of votes was equivalent to each voter or if it was the sum of each individual answer in the five-question referendum.
Venezuela argues that Guyana's Essequibo region, also known as Guayana Esequiba, was stolen from it when the border was drawn over a century ago.
The region—which accounts for two thirds of the area of Guyana—is rich in both oil and minerals, and would in theory give Venezuela access to the Stabroek Block, an oil field that it is estimated contains more than eight billion barrels, discovered by ExxonMobil in 2015, which sits almost entirely in Guyana's territorial waters.
It follows international calls for Venezuela to desist from actions that could threaten Guyana's control of Essequibo and a build up of military forces by Brazil.
Venezuela Guyana disputed region map
A map showing Guyana and (highlighted) the Essequibo region whose sovereignty is disputed by Venezuela. In a referendum on Sunday, Venezuelans voted in favor of claiming sovereignty of the territory from their neighbor. Newsweek/Getty
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Venezuelan voters were asked whether they support "the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state" in the 61,600-square-mile disputed territory, and its incorporation into Venezuela.
The referendum also included questions about granting citizenship to residents and rejecting the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in settling the dispute.
"We have taken the first steps of a new historical stage to fight for our Guayana Esequiba, for peace and to recover what the liberators left us," Maduro said following the announcing of the referendum's results.
"I came to vote because Essequibo is ours, and I hope that whatever they are going to do, they think about it thoroughly and remember to never put peace at risk," 37-year-old Juan Carlos Rodríguez, told AP in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, after voting.
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