61 Venezuela
61.1 Essequibo Conflict
Tooze
Venezuela’s revolutionary socialist government has trumpeted what it says is an “overwhelming victory” in a referendum on its claim to an oil-and-mineral-rich swath of neighbouring Guyana in a referendum on Sunday(3 Dec 2023). The referendum, which Guyana has described as a pretext for “annexation”, marks a new phase in a dispute over the Essequibo region, which has escalated since ExxonMobil made one of the world’s biggest recent oil discoveries in the Stabroek block off its coast in 2015.
