Caracas is reportedly moving to claim the Essequibo territory of neighboring Guyana
File photo: Kaieteur waterfall in the Potaro-Siparuni region of Essequibo, Guyana, April 12, 2023. © Martín SILVA / AFP
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has sent troops to the border with Guyana with the intention of claiming 160,000 square kilometers of territory known as Essequibo, according to the Spanish daily El Pais.
An unknown number of Venezuelan troops have been dispatched to Puerto Barima, in the state of Delta Amacuro, the Spanish outlet said. Meanwhile, Maduro has unveiled a new map of Venezuela already incorporating the territory.
Some 10.4 million Venezuelan voters approved incorporating Essequibo in a referendum on Sunday. The territory is claimed and de facto administered by Guyana. Venezuela never accepted the outcome of the 1899 US arbitration assigning the region to what was a British colony at the time.
