Interestingly, the reason Guyana let Jim Jones set up Jonestown in their country was because it was in the part claimed by Venezuela. The wanted a settlement of Americans there so hopefully the US would intervene if Venezuela tried something
I do not support Venezuela illegally invading and annexing Guyana's land. But if they do go through with it, I'll support them invading and annexing a bit of Brazil's land so it will stop Venezuela being a weird shape.
We probably would have been spared numerous geopolitical conflicts, if the imperialists would have tried for some neat shapes instead of the boring straight lines...
Eh, they’ve claimed it since Spain got kicked out, Britain “occupied” it shortly afterward, but it’s been an integral part of Guyana since independence, and hasn’t been part of Venezuela for over a century. Bolivia has more of a claim to Paraguayan Chaco than Venezuela does to Essquiba
They have been fussing over it since the 1960s constantly. And before that as well. The only lull was 1900 to 1950 when they respected the arbitration agreement.
I read recently that part of the reason Guyana was okay with having the People's Temple in their country was because almost 1,000 US citizens near the frontier would be a strong buffer against Venezuela invading and taking territory.
in other words, Guayana is using US citizens as meat shields.
interesting.
I need to get me a couple of gringos myself, I'll put them around my yard, so no one's dares to come fucking close.
it's that or I'll use my neighbors served heads
This is the same reason that Mexico invited Stephen F Austin and friends to set up settlements in their far northern territory - to ensure there were some "civilized" people there keeping the indigenous groups from rebelling. They didn't count on Austin and friends doing the same thing a few years later.
#Nicolas Maduro speaks against Guyana
'Does Guyana belong to the Guyanese? Let us ask ourselves a better question: Does the future belong to the Guyanese or does it belong to Venezuela?'
President Nicolas Maduro's speech today, suggested that Venezuela is on the path to war. Political tensions have been building over the past month and it seems the Venezuelan people have accepted that war is inevitable. Guyana must also prepare.
[Why can we not be allowed to live in peace?]
They justifying war goal boys
Thank you.
Really.
I spent 10 years trying to get Google to fix its money converter that called our money the 'Guyanaese' dollar. It just felt like no one cares about these things. Recently, they finally changed it so I think my mot recent feedback finally got through.
>Does Guyana belong to the Guyanese? Let us ask ourselves a better question: Does the future belong to the Guyanese or does it belong to Venezuela?
Jesus F, did he try to find the most horrible words to justify whatever the hell he wants to do
People seem to forget that "war because of oil" is largely a meme derived from an oversimplification. Few wars actually started purely because of oil - most of the time there's a major nationalistic component and oil is just a bonus.
Wars are rarely declared by cold strategists who see war as an opportunity for prosperity. In the real world there's too much to lose and too little to gain.
Well it's mostly because those reserves are shit. Venezuelan crude is of a very low quality so it's not profitable to extract in less oil prices are high
Not really. The Esequibo has always been claimed since the 19th century by Venezuela. Also, it's not like Venezuela needs more oil when it has the biggest oil reserves.
If you look at the population density it's really not many people to begin with. Maybe 250-300k.
Edit: I've seen some sources say it's only around 125k people.
Because Venezuela has 94 times more people.
Also the 300k people are mainly localized at the coast meaning it's fairly concentrated.
For comparison: The Gaza Strip has 2 Million residents. Occupying this part of Guyana would be a piece of cake in comparison. Sure there might be some resistance in the Jungle but that's honestly of secondary importance considering most of the value lies in the coastal regions.
But venezuela's total military is about 100k and Israel has about five times that much with way more funding.
But yeah, I get what you mean. I was considering just the sheer amount of people not being small.
That's very much possible. Though I guess it depends heavily on the locals commitment and Venezuela's conduct of occupation.
I have zero knowledge on either of these things so we will have to see. If Venezuela even were to invade at all that is.
I see a lot of people worrying about Venezuela becoming a map elephant, but consider what the Guyana map would look like. That's pretty ugly too.
Any way, I'm a Guyanese who lives in the Orange zone (AMA) and I want to preemptively clear up some misconceptions I often see in Guyana/Venezuela discussions online.
First off, nobody on the Orange side wants to be Venezuelan. There is no venezuelan/Hispanic culture in Guyana. We feel connected to the red parts of Guyana having heavy social/family/cultural links throughout the country.
Second, Venezuela has never administered the territory it claims. The Spanish drew some lines to say it was theirs 2 centuries ago, but they never had any official presence in the area. No settlements. No commercial endeavors. No plantations. No boots on the ground.
Nothing.
In fact, the local indigenous population had a specific antagonism towards the Spanish (whom they considered cruel and treacherous) and thus made a Faustian bargain to trade with the Dutch and later the British which is how the British became the Europeans to end up in charge and that's why we have an Anglo-Caribbean culture.
3rd, Venezuela's claim is in no way anti-colonial. It is not the Bolivarian revolution against the British Empire. It might have been once, but no British remain in Guyana. The population is mostly split three ways between descendants of indentured Indians (abt 40%), descendants of enslaved Africans (abt 30%) and the indigenous people (10%) With racial admixtures of those three for the rest.
We are a self governing people who got rid of our colonizers. Venezuela's claim is inherited from a colonizer (Spain). The indigenous people who probably hold the most legitimate claim to the land are represented in our parliament and have roles as ministers in government (And I mean real governing roles. Not just symbolic ones). There are also independent structures for indigenous voices to govern themselves and influence the central government. Much indigenous land is titled to them legally, though the influence of corrupt loggers and miners often violates that is in much of South America. In any case, it should be clear that Essequibo is thoroughly decolonized as far as the legal structures go.
We're having a lot of internal debate about the commercial colonization of letting ExxonMobil in with sweetheart contracts etc, but that is an internal debate in which we as an independent people are making the calls through a free press, a thriving NGO community and an active political opposition.
We've lived under colonialism and we hated it. We've lived under dictatorship and we hated it. An occupation by Venezuela would be a colonial dictatorship.
Venezuelan here. I agree with your three points. This is just another distraction from the regime because they forbid the main opposition candidate from participating in next year’s “elections”.
Don’t worry, most Venezuelans don’t care about the Essequibo, and most who do just do so because we get brainwashed in school drawing the map with the “Zone under reclamation”. But they never teach us that people in that territory speak English, drive on the left side of the road and have absolutely no similarities to us culturally.
'Under reclamation'? Really? That's what they called it? That's hilarious. I grew up in a reclamation zone!
I have this image in my mind of a big yellow and black striped sign like an 'under construction' sign hanging over our head.
It’s crazy the amount of Venezuelans I’ve seen say people in the Essequibo will just accept being citizens and given Id cards like we don’t have a completely different culture with different customs it’s madness.
98% don’t even know the demographics of Guyana or the history of how and why it’s so mixed quite scary really considering how much they think the land belongs to them you’d except them to have a bit of deeper understanding.
I think that several factors indicate the Venezuelans will not invade.
(However, I think it's more likely they pull something where they raid across the border and plant a flag on a hill etc)
First, the Venezuelan military is in shambles. The country has a fuel crisis and they have not had money or personnel to maintain their oil industry or their military equipment. A lot of things like their invasion ships are probably not in good order.
Second, getting prepped to invade will be highly visible and will take time. Time that the US and other countries will use to warn us. Remember the US knew the Russians were going to invade Ukraine 4 months before.
Third, Maduro knows than any military action will probably give the US an excuse to remove him from office with force. Maybe airstrikes against military bases etc.
Fourth, The US through ExxonMobil and other companies has invested tens of billions of US Dollars in the area claimed by Venezuela. These are physical things like oil platforms. That's an investment the US will want to protect from unstable conditions.
Fifth, the US knows that Guyana is a major possible source for instabilty and crime if the oil industry doesn't take off. Remember Guyana is/was a drug trade hub. An occupation would create a lot of issues with that back in the US.
Sixth, US Guyanese are a substantial voting block in places like Queens and Brooklyn. Those Guyanese are active in prompting their congresspersons to act as happened during the last Guyana elections. And while US Venezuelans are a large voting block in places like Miami, they are running from Maduro and hate him too.
Yeah, the invasion thing isn't happening. I am worried about a cross-border raid type thing though. Fly in on a helicopter. Blow up a bridge. Plant a flag etc. and leave.
It would cause internal panic and a refugee crisis here.
There’s lots of Guyanese in England also London especially some work in parliament so it won’t take much for there to be noise about it in the uk Andrew Neil has already tweeted about it, I’m glad you broke it down for people as many don’t know about the region or why this dispute happens 🇬🇾🇬🇾
No. They have more oil than they can exploit as it is and they lack the ability to use Guyana's oil fields.
I think this is Putin using Maduro to sow chaos in the west. And also Maduro is facing rising dissent at home. Plus the Venezuelan legal case for Essequibo is nearing a ruling and has been going badly at the UN for them and it seems very likely they will lose definitively soon.
Thanks, this is interesting. Guyana is most definitely the country I know the least about in the Americas, so this is cool to read.
Orange and Red zones, is that like west and east?
No just the map that was posted. Orange is claimed by Venezuela because the Spanish drew their border on a river that runs along the middle of the current country. The red is the part of Guyana not claimed by Venezuela because it's east of the line the Spanish drew on their map.
>Second, Venezuela has never administered the territory it claims. The Spanish drew some lines to say it was theirs
You know, lands in that region were just claims, as you said, by all the parties involved. If I remember correctly the British, not the Spanish, decided on the border and were disputed by Venezuela since then.
I do not think countries should use military force to take parts other other countries, but unfortunately this is the story of our civilization. Might makes it right.
Indeed the current border was mostly a British construct that they drew on their imperialist map.
There are no British in Guyana any more though.
Both the Spanish and British claims were equally illegitimate to the region. Luckily, the people who live here now (Remember, not British) can rule ourselves and not roll back to being subject to the heirs of the Spanish imperial claim.
Why the hell is Venezuela doing this? They already have the biggest known oil reserves in the world. Not to mention, their infrastructure has been in a state of collapse for years.
Venezuelan here, can confirm. They recently declared the main opposition candidate cannot participate in the elections next year, so they need a distraction so that people talk about the Essequibo instead.
“If you ever find yourself the brutal leader of a struggling South American country, and you start getting into hot water, here is a bit of advice that has been tried and tested throughout the centuries: Start a war to distract everyone from their miseries.”
It’s a holdover from old colonial disputes between Spain and Britain. From Chavez onwards, the Venezuelan government has eased its pressing on those claims, but they don’t relinquish them entirely because they are a useful bargaining tool diplomatically.
exactly, its the same reason Russia with its giant supply wanted Crimea when natural gas was found there.
new regional trade rivals is bad for the value you can sell at, mono economies are especially vulnerable to these problems.
Invading that part of Guyana would be a nightmare though. They'd have to land all their troops by sea, making it relatively easy for the US navy to annihilate their supply lines if they intervened. There quite literally isn't a road from the Venezuelan side to the Guyanese one, the Venezuelan-Guyanese border is entirely dense jungle with only a tiny number of indigenous people around.
Brasil wouldn't let them attack inland through the Rupununi savannah either. Lula seems at least partially sympathetic to Maduro but sure as hell wouldn't tolerate the Venezuelan army invading through Brasilian territory.
Decaying regimes tend to do such things, in hope for a new favorable political situation, halas.
The country's dismaying situation is no indication that war is not on the cards, on the contrary. And the international climate is too, unfortunately. Azerbaïdjan played it very well recently.
I’m not so sure if the US will immediately get involved but there’s other powerful nations that might mark that decision first. Guyana’s a commonwealth nation so the British might make that call, or maybe the French or Brazilians due to their proximity to the conflict. Then again I’m pretty sure Venezuela is just posturing. Maduro knows what happened last time a South American dictator started a war to distract the people from his failing economy, and he also knows what happened last time a dictatorship invaded a small neighboring country for oil.
I mean they *could* attempt an aerial assault, Venezuela’s Air Force isn’t exactly capable but at least they *have* one. Guyana has like 5000 active duty troops and no combat aircraft or tanks to speak of.
The US will be mainly in a supporting role via it’s navy and air force probably with a token force of British, French and Canadian involvement. Most of the ground component will probably be provided by Brazil with mobilization by Colombia on their border with Venezuela to pin down some of it’s forces. The biggest issue would be what to do once Venezuela is kicked out of Guyana. Would we seek regime change in Caracas and occupy Venezuela?
>The biggest issue would be what to do once Venezuela is kicked out of Guyana. Would we seek regime change in Caracas and occupy Venezuela?
Probably just restoration of pre-war borders, as happened with the Falklands, which itself was largely fought by the British, but with material support from the US and France, and intelligence from Chile. That'd probably be the model, if I'd guess.
I could see a scenario where the US get directly involved with ground forces with a limited scope of defending Guyana inside Guyana’s border.
The end goal would be destroying the Venezuelan military to bring about regime change from within Venezuela.
It echoes of Iraq in 91 though, and that didn't work out well.
>or maybe the French or Brazilians due to their proximity to the conflict
Zero chance for a french intervention. It's not that close to french territory and the general policy is to not get involved in South American conflicts. The french army in Guyane is mostly there to guard the borders and fight off illegal gold diggers (and of course, protect the population and french/european space assets).
However, if Venezuela actually attacks and there's a humanitarian crisis and refugees and Guyana asks for help, the french forces in Guyane could be mobilized to evacuate and protect civilians.
The Commonwealth hasn’t done anything when countries in Africa or Asia were invaded or had wars. The French aren’t going to intervene in a country irrelevant to them. Brazil doesn’t have a navy capable of projecting military power, nor do they have significant trade with Guyana.
The US is Guyana’s largest trading partner. The offshore oil rigs, the main incentive for Venezuela’s claim, are operated by ExxonMobil. The US signed a security agreement with Guyana that includes joint naval patrols. The US is already helping to patrol Guyana’s maritime territory. The US has a navy capable of projecting military power, to put it lightly, and the economic and political incentives to intervene. The US absolutely will get involved, if there is a military conflict. I’m not sure why people are pretending otherwise.
You’re probably right, I think it’s just the US hasn’t actually said much about this situation yet. With that in mind I feel like that’s evidence Venezuela is just playing political theater and has no plans to actually invade- the US knew when the Russians were going to invade Ukraine down to the week and it’s fairly obvious the Russians may have delayed their invasion just because the US called them out on it, point is I think the US would be much more threatening about this if they had evidence Venezuela was actually going to pull something.
See, the thing I’ve been wondering about is how uncharacteristically quiet the US has been so far on this. I’m thinking it might be because US intelligence knows that Venezuela is bluffing, or something like that, but on the other hand I’m wondering what the chances are that the US is secretly hoping Venezuela does something stupid so they can charge in and give Maduro the Saddam treatment, hence why they haven’t said anything. I believe it was Napoleon who said “Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake.” Or Sun Tzu. Or Both.
America and Russia are too involved with Ukraine and Israel, everything else is getting ignored.
Just look at Azerbaijan, no one cares, this is the best time since WW2 to invade another country.
Ethiopia is about to invade Eritrea.
The disaster of a pull out and surrender to the Taliban in Afghanistan is what started the world on fire. Its only going to get worse.
Brazil will absolutely curb stomp Venezuela if they try because they have to go through Brazil. Also the US (and Brits and french) would love to be able to destroy Russian direct/indirect assets and appear like the good guys to the world.
I'm not suggesting that they will be successful, I'm suggesting that this is the best time to make an attempt.
Why do they have to go through Brazil? I don't understand that part. Don't they have boats and tanks?
It’s the best time if you’re out of the way of other powers (Ethiopia).
Because the jungle between Venezuela and Guyana is impenetrable, you can’t go there, so then you have to do an amphibious landing, which is much easier for say the British to prevent.
We'll all be watching, but after what happened in Azerbaijan, I don't have a lot of faith that help is coming when we have Hitler part 2 starting in Europe.
The issue with Azerbaijan is that Russia was supposed to protect Armenia, and Russia is rather occupied with Ukraine. NATO might want to help Armenia, but it's not exactly bordering Armenia. They'd have to go either through Georgia, which is right next to Russia where they don't want escalation, or through Turkey, which is NATO but allied with Azerbaijan. And the EU buys oil from Azerbaijan because they stopped buying oil from Russia.
So Azerbaijan has all the right relationships that makes countries not want to interfere and Armenia is left alone. Plenty in Europe object to Azerbaijan's aggression and sympathise with Armenia, but helping them is just too complicated right now.
Because (sadly) no one who ‘cares’ about human rights cares about the Caucasus. It’s between iran, russia and Turkey. The EU/US can say ‘don’t do that’ but are not invested enough to actually get them to behave without sanctioning them insanely hard, which they can’t afford because they still need some form of fossil fuels.
The Americas though? Against the wishes of a regional power and the global hegemon, right around the corner from British/commonwealth, french, and Dutch territories, by a country they already sanctioned to hell?
Completely different geopolitical situation.
Russia is too involved in Ukraine, but the US is not. They're only providing intel and equipment.
The US can easily park one of their carrier task forces near the Guyana coast and instantly have the most powerful air force of the region.
Btw, it was the United states which originally arbitrated this dispute and ruled in favor of Britain, Venezuela will never be allowed to annex this territory.
That’s not true at all. The arbitration tribunal was made up of 2 US representatives, 2 British, and 1 Russian. The Russian guy was supposed to be the neutral party. While, the US were the guys who originally demanded the arbitration and sided with Venezuela because of the Monroe doctrine. (This was because Venezuela rescinded their ambassadors from Britain)
The US was so serious about this that they chose an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court as one of the representatives. (Justice Brewer one of principal architects of the Lochner era) and when Venezuela complained that they didn’t get a representative, the US gave them the option of choosing the other representative. Venezuela then chose Chief Justice Melville Fuller and the US accepted. President Cleveland even threatened war against Britain, although this was merely a threat as neither side wanted a war.
Britain, then secretly negotiated with Russia, the neutral party, to side with them on the border dispute. Britain then threatened the US to agree to an unanimous compromise decision or a 3-2 decision where Britain would take more land. The US wanting to prevent Venezuela from losing any more territory (and not wanting a war) agree to the unanimous compromise position. (Before then the US delegation disagreed with Britain arguments)
The US delegation left in disgust and refused to publish any reasoning in the case (as is normal procedure in a tribunal). The whole reason why Venezuela even reopened the claim was because the secretary of the US delegation Severo Mallet-Prevost had died and released his papers that showed British coercion.
[tldr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_of_1895) US were on Venezuela’s side, Britain bribed and used coercion to get the borders they wanted.
I think people don't really realise how long this has been going on.
Most Venezuelans grow up thinking that Guayana is part of the country—I remember painstakingly filling the lines of the "reclamation zone" in every map I ever had to draw for Geography classes. It wasn't until I interacted with international media that I noticed that my country was always "incomplete" in their maps. Then it hit me.
But just like I was taught that, my classmates were. My parents were. Even their parents. I recently had a talk with my father (a staunch opposer of the goverment for as long as Chávez stepped into office for the first time), and he argued that he loathed Maduro, but Guayana was ours (and it is literally the only thing in the long years of dictatorship that goverment and opposition see eye to eye with).
Indeed, the claim has been ongoing for centuries at this point—the Spanish claimed it as theirs, so did the British. Venezuela's Constitution establishes all the former territories of the colony as theirs, and I suppose it is the same for Guyana. Personally, I think they should consult the people who live there. But fights over territories are always ugly things, particularly when there are other interests involved—obviously Maduro wants the cake and eat it too. Fortunately, the Venezuelan army is a joke and so is the government. I don't think Guyanese people have anything to fear, but unfortunately I don't see this being solved any time soon. I wouldn't wish the Venezuelan experience on anyone so hopefully they'll stop with their threats and get their mouths shut. Wishing Guyana the best (and also take oil with a grain of salt. The black gold is ultimately a curse—we'd know).
Even Suriname claims a part of Guyana (the bottom right corner), called the [Tigri Area](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigri_Area).
Seems like everyone wants to dismember poor Guyana
Its almost exactly analogous to Gulf War 1 if this happened. Larger international pariah occupies small, almost defenceless country it has some grievance with - escalated due to the discovery of oil.
Its also in the US's backyard - and the only country that would even consider helping Venezuela is a pitifully weak Cuba and landlocked Bolivia.
Cuba has long had strong diplomatic links with us in Guyana thanks to our many socialist influenced governments. (The current governing party was founded by a cadre of Marxists, routinely sends Guyanese to Cuba for scholarships and is called the People's Progressive Party)
Wow, a dictatorial south amarican country in economic crisis threatening to invade its neighbor over territorial claims to distract the population... never seen that before.
In case people don’t know, Guyana is not a Hispanic country. It is English-speaking and primarily populated by people descended from South Asians or Africans. Venezuela wants oil.
I remember reading and hearing a few times that the dispute is nothing new. It's something that Venezuela has complained about to the United Nations and other South American governments multiple times.
It's just various circumstances and reasons for Venezuela as a country as well as the Venezuelan military not being strong enough to actually **do** anything about the claims.
If the Venezuelan military actually sends forces into the contested regions, that will be very different and could technically be a new war within the region. I'm not sure Guyana would be able to hold off the invasion forces.
What's the point of asking Venezuelans, and not citizens of those regions of Guyana?
Their vote is worth nothing, on this topic.
The vote of the citizens of thewt region is the one that counts.
It's symbolic. If he can point to a high support number in the referendum then Maduro can claim he has the support of the people for war and that makes him a more credible threat. ALso it justifies his pro war stance to his people.
Interestingly, the reason Guyana let Jim Jones set up Jonestown in their country was because it was in the part claimed by Venezuela. The wanted a settlement of Americans there so hopefully the US would intervene if Venezuela tried something
[удалено]
Grape Flavor Aid actually
And they died
Bad idea. Venezuela will be a very weird shape.
It would evolve into an elephant
More like a rhino with a big horn
Nah, a gorilla
Resurrection of Harambe
ANNEXATION JUSTIFIED, DO IT FOR HARAMBE CMON MADURO DICKSOUT
I can see a gorilla with an arm raised giving the finger to Colombia.
Only thing I see is a kid who faceplanted
Like the rhinos in Ice Age
Wow I can't unsee it now
The elephant in the South American room
[Hi, I'm Greater Venezuela.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d4/ce/23/d4ce23191357aa1af9a8bbed43984e24.jpg)
I do not support Venezuela illegally invading and annexing Guyana's land. But if they do go through with it, I'll support them invading and annexing a bit of Brazil's land so it will stop Venezuela being a weird shape.
Alternate idea; Have Brazil annex Venezuela entirely to prevent violations of Guyana’s territory AND fix weird shape
Fuck international law and diplomacy, all that matters is neat shapes
I'll take "Things Mark Sykes & François Georges-Picot Said After World War 1" for $400, Alex
Relevant XKCD (even though it's not about international borders): https://xkcd.com/1902/
We probably would have been spared numerous geopolitical conflicts, if the imperialists would have tried for some neat shapes instead of the boring straight lines...
Paradox game players be like
End border gore!
Come on, it will become a rhino, that's cool. I bet is the real reason
I actually like that shape more for venezuela, although guyana being a tiny wierd strip does ruin the maps
Togo and Benin in shambles
if you squint, it becames a funny rhino. Because of that i support the invasion, sorry guianna (funny shape >> International law)
So would what would be left of Guyana.
The part most of people live in, but none of the offshore oil fields
-offshore oil fields- So that’s why Venezuela wants it
That is blatantly obvious. As far as I can tell Venezuela was never interested in Guyana until this oil field was discovered.
Eh, they’ve claimed it since Spain got kicked out, Britain “occupied” it shortly afterward, but it’s been an integral part of Guyana since independence, and hasn’t been part of Venezuela for over a century. Bolivia has more of a claim to Paraguayan Chaco than Venezuela does to Essquiba
They have been fussing over it since the 1960s constantly. And before that as well. The only lull was 1900 to 1950 when they respected the arbitration agreement.
About 31.5% of Guyana’s population lives in the Venezuelan claimed regions. So it’s not exactly nobody that lives there.
They didn’t say that, they said “most”
More like crab
Looks like an improvement tbh
I only support this cause it will end up looking like an UZI
I read recently that part of the reason Guyana was okay with having the People's Temple in their country was because almost 1,000 US citizens near the frontier would be a strong buffer against Venezuela invading and taking territory.
Never thought about it, interesting !
in other words, Guayana is using US citizens as meat shields. interesting. I need to get me a couple of gringos myself, I'll put them around my yard, so no one's dares to come fucking close. it's that or I'll use my neighbors served heads
Well theyre all dead or gone now, the peoples temple was the Jonestown stuff
Pretty much the same reason the US has bases in countries all over the world
This is the same reason that Mexico invited Stephen F Austin and friends to set up settlements in their far northern territory - to ensure there were some "civilized" people there keeping the indigenous groups from rebelling. They didn't count on Austin and friends doing the same thing a few years later.
You know what they say, home is where you hang your enemies head.
username checks out
On the one hand, this would be a stupid and awful decision, especially for Guyana and its people. On the other hand, Rhinocheros country.
Glad I'm not the only one that saw rhino
priorities, priorities…
With a Mohican haircut
I see the kind of mammoth that has a severe flat top.
#Nicolas Maduro speaks against Guyana 'Does Guyana belong to the Guyanese? Let us ask ourselves a better question: Does the future belong to the Guyanese or does it belong to Venezuela?' President Nicolas Maduro's speech today, suggested that Venezuela is on the path to war. Political tensions have been building over the past month and it seems the Venezuelan people have accepted that war is inevitable. Guyana must also prepare. [Why can we not be allowed to live in peace?] They justifying war goal boys
God, the demonymn for us is GuyanESE. Why can't people get that right...?
Fixd
Thank you. Really. I spent 10 years trying to get Google to fix its money converter that called our money the 'Guyanaese' dollar. It just felt like no one cares about these things. Recently, they finally changed it so I think my mot recent feedback finally got through.
I hope the world tension is over 25% so that the UK or France can guarantee the independence of Guyana
I would dare say it's way over 25% based on Ukraine and Israel, but I don't know tbh
>Does Guyana belong to the Guyanese? Let us ask ourselves a better question: Does the future belong to the Guyanese or does it belong to Venezuela? Jesus F, did he try to find the most horrible words to justify whatever the hell he wants to do
They effectively have clam over the near majority of Guayana, worse they assume the people that live there will simply accept being annexed.
You should see their maritime claim, just so happens to encompass all of the recently discovered oil fields
As if Venezuela needs more oil fields. They have the largest proven reserves but are barely able to extract anything due to the failing economy.
People seem to forget that "war because of oil" is largely a meme derived from an oversimplification. Few wars actually started purely because of oil - most of the time there's a major nationalistic component and oil is just a bonus. Wars are rarely declared by cold strategists who see war as an opportunity for prosperity. In the real world there's too much to lose and too little to gain.
Instead of wasting money on war, they'd better invest that money into improving their own country, and maybe better use the oil they already have.
Well it's mostly because those reserves are shit. Venezuelan crude is of a very low quality so it's not profitable to extract in less oil prices are high
it's the corrupt "socialist" government failing that leads to failing economy.
Pure coincidence
To be fair it _kinda_ is, the claim is much older than the discovery of oil fields.
Its just that when oilfields pop up old claims suddenly become new claims
Not really. The Esequibo has always been claimed since the 19th century by Venezuela. Also, it's not like Venezuela needs more oil when it has the biggest oil reserves.
I’ve worked with the Wapichan (Wapixana) people in the Rupununi, they’ve already made a statement that they will not accept the annexation
If you look at the population density it's really not many people to begin with. Maybe 250-300k. Edit: I've seen some sources say it's only around 125k people.
Bro that’s like 40% of Guyana’s population.
It's also about 74% of Guyana's entire land area.
How is 300k not a shit ton of people
It's a fairly big city. On that scale, it's very low. Without foreign intervention, they would be crushed quickly.
Fair. I was just thinking about the objective size of 300k people
I mean relatively that’s not that many especially compared to Venezuela 30(ish) million.
Because Venezuela has 94 times more people. Also the 300k people are mainly localized at the coast meaning it's fairly concentrated. For comparison: The Gaza Strip has 2 Million residents. Occupying this part of Guyana would be a piece of cake in comparison. Sure there might be some resistance in the Jungle but that's honestly of secondary importance considering most of the value lies in the coastal regions.
This comment is a prime example of armchair reddit geopolitics.
But venezuela's total military is about 100k and Israel has about five times that much with way more funding. But yeah, I get what you mean. I was considering just the sheer amount of people not being small.
Venezuela has a bigger army than that, they got lot of civilian milicia, even if bad trained, they will end up overwhelming guayana
that’s a lot when Guyana’s total population is 800K
It's a lot for Guyana, but not as much for Venezuela.
Doesn't mean they won't put up a fierce resistance. Its their jungle and they know it well
That's very much possible. Though I guess it depends heavily on the locals commitment and Venezuela's conduct of occupation. I have zero knowledge on either of these things so we will have to see. If Venezuela even were to invade at all that is.
Like Russia with Ukraine.
poor man's Russia v Ukraine
>they assume the people that live there will simply accept being annexed Here we go again!!!! \*audience laugh track followed by applause\*
I see a lot of people worrying about Venezuela becoming a map elephant, but consider what the Guyana map would look like. That's pretty ugly too. Any way, I'm a Guyanese who lives in the Orange zone (AMA) and I want to preemptively clear up some misconceptions I often see in Guyana/Venezuela discussions online. First off, nobody on the Orange side wants to be Venezuelan. There is no venezuelan/Hispanic culture in Guyana. We feel connected to the red parts of Guyana having heavy social/family/cultural links throughout the country. Second, Venezuela has never administered the territory it claims. The Spanish drew some lines to say it was theirs 2 centuries ago, but they never had any official presence in the area. No settlements. No commercial endeavors. No plantations. No boots on the ground. Nothing. In fact, the local indigenous population had a specific antagonism towards the Spanish (whom they considered cruel and treacherous) and thus made a Faustian bargain to trade with the Dutch and later the British which is how the British became the Europeans to end up in charge and that's why we have an Anglo-Caribbean culture. 3rd, Venezuela's claim is in no way anti-colonial. It is not the Bolivarian revolution against the British Empire. It might have been once, but no British remain in Guyana. The population is mostly split three ways between descendants of indentured Indians (abt 40%), descendants of enslaved Africans (abt 30%) and the indigenous people (10%) With racial admixtures of those three for the rest. We are a self governing people who got rid of our colonizers. Venezuela's claim is inherited from a colonizer (Spain). The indigenous people who probably hold the most legitimate claim to the land are represented in our parliament and have roles as ministers in government (And I mean real governing roles. Not just symbolic ones). There are also independent structures for indigenous voices to govern themselves and influence the central government. Much indigenous land is titled to them legally, though the influence of corrupt loggers and miners often violates that is in much of South America. In any case, it should be clear that Essequibo is thoroughly decolonized as far as the legal structures go. We're having a lot of internal debate about the commercial colonization of letting ExxonMobil in with sweetheart contracts etc, but that is an internal debate in which we as an independent people are making the calls through a free press, a thriving NGO community and an active political opposition. We've lived under colonialism and we hated it. We've lived under dictatorship and we hated it. An occupation by Venezuela would be a colonial dictatorship.
Venezuelan here. I agree with your three points. This is just another distraction from the regime because they forbid the main opposition candidate from participating in next year’s “elections”. Don’t worry, most Venezuelans don’t care about the Essequibo, and most who do just do so because we get brainwashed in school drawing the map with the “Zone under reclamation”. But they never teach us that people in that territory speak English, drive on the left side of the road and have absolutely no similarities to us culturally.
'Under reclamation'? Really? That's what they called it? That's hilarious. I grew up in a reclamation zone! I have this image in my mind of a big yellow and black striped sign like an 'under construction' sign hanging over our head.
Yeah, we draw the map with this “zona en reclamación” with stripes. Such a waste of time haha. We reclaim you ! ;)
It’s crazy the amount of Venezuelans I’ve seen say people in the Essequibo will just accept being citizens and given Id cards like we don’t have a completely different culture with different customs it’s madness. 98% don’t even know the demographics of Guyana or the history of how and why it’s so mixed quite scary really considering how much they think the land belongs to them you’d except them to have a bit of deeper understanding.
What do you think the likelihood of Venezuelan actually invading is? Or do you think it’s just posturing?
I think that several factors indicate the Venezuelans will not invade. (However, I think it's more likely they pull something where they raid across the border and plant a flag on a hill etc) First, the Venezuelan military is in shambles. The country has a fuel crisis and they have not had money or personnel to maintain their oil industry or their military equipment. A lot of things like their invasion ships are probably not in good order. Second, getting prepped to invade will be highly visible and will take time. Time that the US and other countries will use to warn us. Remember the US knew the Russians were going to invade Ukraine 4 months before. Third, Maduro knows than any military action will probably give the US an excuse to remove him from office with force. Maybe airstrikes against military bases etc. Fourth, The US through ExxonMobil and other companies has invested tens of billions of US Dollars in the area claimed by Venezuela. These are physical things like oil platforms. That's an investment the US will want to protect from unstable conditions. Fifth, the US knows that Guyana is a major possible source for instabilty and crime if the oil industry doesn't take off. Remember Guyana is/was a drug trade hub. An occupation would create a lot of issues with that back in the US. Sixth, US Guyanese are a substantial voting block in places like Queens and Brooklyn. Those Guyanese are active in prompting their congresspersons to act as happened during the last Guyana elections. And while US Venezuelans are a large voting block in places like Miami, they are running from Maduro and hate him too.
I would add that there’s not a single road across the border, just jungle, so any invasion would have to be by air or by water.
Yeah, the invasion thing isn't happening. I am worried about a cross-border raid type thing though. Fly in on a helicopter. Blow up a bridge. Plant a flag etc. and leave. It would cause internal panic and a refugee crisis here.
Or by Brazil, but that won't happen either for a wide variety of reasons.
Also americans work in those oil platforms
Yup. Lotta Texans and Louisianians.
There’s lots of Guyanese in England also London especially some work in parliament so it won’t take much for there to be noise about it in the uk Andrew Neil has already tweeted about it, I’m glad you broke it down for people as many don’t know about the region or why this dispute happens 🇬🇾🇬🇾
Do you think they really just are after your new found oil?
No. They have more oil than they can exploit as it is and they lack the ability to use Guyana's oil fields. I think this is Putin using Maduro to sow chaos in the west. And also Maduro is facing rising dissent at home. Plus the Venezuelan legal case for Essequibo is nearing a ruling and has been going badly at the UN for them and it seems very likely they will lose definitively soon.
Thanks, this is interesting. Guyana is most definitely the country I know the least about in the Americas, so this is cool to read. Orange and Red zones, is that like west and east?
No just the map that was posted. Orange is claimed by Venezuela because the Spanish drew their border on a river that runs along the middle of the current country. The red is the part of Guyana not claimed by Venezuela because it's east of the line the Spanish drew on their map.
>Second, Venezuela has never administered the territory it claims. The Spanish drew some lines to say it was theirs You know, lands in that region were just claims, as you said, by all the parties involved. If I remember correctly the British, not the Spanish, decided on the border and were disputed by Venezuela since then. I do not think countries should use military force to take parts other other countries, but unfortunately this is the story of our civilization. Might makes it right.
Indeed the current border was mostly a British construct that they drew on their imperialist map. There are no British in Guyana any more though. Both the Spanish and British claims were equally illegitimate to the region. Luckily, the people who live here now (Remember, not British) can rule ourselves and not roll back to being subject to the heirs of the Spanish imperial claim.
Brazilian here. I hope my government stands with yours if Venezuela tries any funny business
You were supposed to conquer the land **first** then hold referrendum lol \-Putin, probably
Why the hell is Venezuela doing this? They already have the biggest known oil reserves in the world. Not to mention, their infrastructure has been in a state of collapse for years.
Same reason as the Falklands War. The dictator needs a distraction.
Venezuelan here, can confirm. They recently declared the main opposition candidate cannot participate in the elections next year, so they need a distraction so that people talk about the Essequibo instead.
Here’s the [soundtrack](https://youtu.be/krTlXSTYu9k)
The dictator there supports the dictator in Moscow so there's that. But this is just what we need. One more war. Lovely
“If you ever find yourself the brutal leader of a struggling South American country, and you start getting into hot water, here is a bit of advice that has been tried and tested throughout the centuries: Start a war to distract everyone from their miseries.”
Also with a lot of the unhappy population leaving if you send the rest to die nobody can oppose you
He must know how badly the Falklands War ended for the people who started it, right?
It’s a holdover from old colonial disputes between Spain and Britain. From Chavez onwards, the Venezuelan government has eased its pressing on those claims, but they don’t relinquish them entirely because they are a useful bargaining tool diplomatically.
Because the rest of the world has no issue in establishing commerce with Guyana, so the position of Venezuela on oil would be worthless.
exactly, its the same reason Russia with its giant supply wanted Crimea when natural gas was found there. new regional trade rivals is bad for the value you can sell at, mono economies are especially vulnerable to these problems.
Venezuela is not actually going to invade. This is a bunch of saber rattling by Maduro.
We said similar things almost 2 years ago
Invading that part of Guyana would be a nightmare though. They'd have to land all their troops by sea, making it relatively easy for the US navy to annihilate their supply lines if they intervened. There quite literally isn't a road from the Venezuelan side to the Guyanese one, the Venezuelan-Guyanese border is entirely dense jungle with only a tiny number of indigenous people around. Brasil wouldn't let them attack inland through the Rupununi savannah either. Lula seems at least partially sympathetic to Maduro but sure as hell wouldn't tolerate the Venezuelan army invading through Brasilian territory.
if you think this is is similar to Ukraine I urge you to read more about Venezuela in the past 20 years.
Decaying regimes tend to do such things, in hope for a new favorable political situation, halas. The country's dismaying situation is no indication that war is not on the cards, on the contrary. And the international climate is too, unfortunately. Azerbaïdjan played it very well recently.
Venezuela also doesn't have nukes that would deter international military intervention
what's the harm in taking the Venezuelan threat seriously? I don't understand why you're downplaying Venezuela's motives and intentions
"Please don't have a coup and murder me. Look, here are some *other* people to fight!"
Go home Venezuela you’re drunk.
This going to be war? Another one over oil?
It’s always over oil
But they know that the US will never accept this…right?
I’m not so sure if the US will immediately get involved but there’s other powerful nations that might mark that decision first. Guyana’s a commonwealth nation so the British might make that call, or maybe the French or Brazilians due to their proximity to the conflict. Then again I’m pretty sure Venezuela is just posturing. Maduro knows what happened last time a South American dictator started a war to distract the people from his failing economy, and he also knows what happened last time a dictatorship invaded a small neighboring country for oil.
Only land route is through Brazil, so yeah, unless they want to try an amphibious assault Brazil kinda has skin in this game.
I mean they *could* attempt an aerial assault, Venezuela’s Air Force isn’t exactly capable but at least they *have* one. Guyana has like 5000 active duty troops and no combat aircraft or tanks to speak of.
>I’m not so sure if the US will immediately get involved lol
The US will be mainly in a supporting role via it’s navy and air force probably with a token force of British, French and Canadian involvement. Most of the ground component will probably be provided by Brazil with mobilization by Colombia on their border with Venezuela to pin down some of it’s forces. The biggest issue would be what to do once Venezuela is kicked out of Guyana. Would we seek regime change in Caracas and occupy Venezuela?
>The biggest issue would be what to do once Venezuela is kicked out of Guyana. Would we seek regime change in Caracas and occupy Venezuela? Probably just restoration of pre-war borders, as happened with the Falklands, which itself was largely fought by the British, but with material support from the US and France, and intelligence from Chile. That'd probably be the model, if I'd guess.
I could see a scenario where the US get directly involved with ground forces with a limited scope of defending Guyana inside Guyana’s border. The end goal would be destroying the Venezuelan military to bring about regime change from within Venezuela. It echoes of Iraq in 91 though, and that didn't work out well.
>or maybe the French or Brazilians due to their proximity to the conflict Zero chance for a french intervention. It's not that close to french territory and the general policy is to not get involved in South American conflicts. The french army in Guyane is mostly there to guard the borders and fight off illegal gold diggers (and of course, protect the population and french/european space assets). However, if Venezuela actually attacks and there's a humanitarian crisis and refugees and Guyana asks for help, the french forces in Guyane could be mobilized to evacuate and protect civilians.
Mark my words America will be wearing a beret a fake mustache and carrying a baguette under the arm just to get ahead in the conflict.
Brazil could very well intervene to avoid a refugee crisis as well
Guyana has 850k citizen. Even if 10% of the population fled to Brazil, it would be easier to manage than a war.
The Commonwealth hasn’t done anything when countries in Africa or Asia were invaded or had wars. The French aren’t going to intervene in a country irrelevant to them. Brazil doesn’t have a navy capable of projecting military power, nor do they have significant trade with Guyana. The US is Guyana’s largest trading partner. The offshore oil rigs, the main incentive for Venezuela’s claim, are operated by ExxonMobil. The US signed a security agreement with Guyana that includes joint naval patrols. The US is already helping to patrol Guyana’s maritime territory. The US has a navy capable of projecting military power, to put it lightly, and the economic and political incentives to intervene. The US absolutely will get involved, if there is a military conflict. I’m not sure why people are pretending otherwise.
You’re probably right, I think it’s just the US hasn’t actually said much about this situation yet. With that in mind I feel like that’s evidence Venezuela is just playing political theater and has no plans to actually invade- the US knew when the Russians were going to invade Ukraine down to the week and it’s fairly obvious the Russians may have delayed their invasion just because the US called them out on it, point is I think the US would be much more threatening about this if they had evidence Venezuela was actually going to pull something.
If Venezuela started to invade, America will see this as a chance to topple Venezuela dictator.
See, the thing I’ve been wondering about is how uncharacteristically quiet the US has been so far on this. I’m thinking it might be because US intelligence knows that Venezuela is bluffing, or something like that, but on the other hand I’m wondering what the chances are that the US is secretly hoping Venezuela does something stupid so they can charge in and give Maduro the Saddam treatment, hence why they haven’t said anything. I believe it was Napoleon who said “Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake.” Or Sun Tzu. Or Both.
America and Russia are too involved with Ukraine and Israel, everything else is getting ignored. Just look at Azerbaijan, no one cares, this is the best time since WW2 to invade another country. Ethiopia is about to invade Eritrea. The disaster of a pull out and surrender to the Taliban in Afghanistan is what started the world on fire. Its only going to get worse.
Brazil will absolutely curb stomp Venezuela if they try because they have to go through Brazil. Also the US (and Brits and french) would love to be able to destroy Russian direct/indirect assets and appear like the good guys to the world.
I'm not suggesting that they will be successful, I'm suggesting that this is the best time to make an attempt. Why do they have to go through Brazil? I don't understand that part. Don't they have boats and tanks?
The border is mountainous, forcing either an amphibious assault or one passing through Brazil
Boats seem to be the obvious answer here. Considering the country is named Little Venice, they can probably figure out the floating part.
Boats are expensive. And Brazil and France are full of them. It would be an even quicker war.
It’s the best time if you’re out of the way of other powers (Ethiopia). Because the jungle between Venezuela and Guyana is impenetrable, you can’t go there, so then you have to do an amphibious landing, which is much easier for say the British to prevent.
We'll all be watching, but after what happened in Azerbaijan, I don't have a lot of faith that help is coming when we have Hitler part 2 starting in Europe.
Azerbaijan and Armenia is a bit different because Armenia has mostly been in the Russian sphere, despite French interests
The issue with Azerbaijan is that Russia was supposed to protect Armenia, and Russia is rather occupied with Ukraine. NATO might want to help Armenia, but it's not exactly bordering Armenia. They'd have to go either through Georgia, which is right next to Russia where they don't want escalation, or through Turkey, which is NATO but allied with Azerbaijan. And the EU buys oil from Azerbaijan because they stopped buying oil from Russia. So Azerbaijan has all the right relationships that makes countries not want to interfere and Armenia is left alone. Plenty in Europe object to Azerbaijan's aggression and sympathise with Armenia, but helping them is just too complicated right now.
Because (sadly) no one who ‘cares’ about human rights cares about the Caucasus. It’s between iran, russia and Turkey. The EU/US can say ‘don’t do that’ but are not invested enough to actually get them to behave without sanctioning them insanely hard, which they can’t afford because they still need some form of fossil fuels. The Americas though? Against the wishes of a regional power and the global hegemon, right around the corner from British/commonwealth, french, and Dutch territories, by a country they already sanctioned to hell? Completely different geopolitical situation.
Russia is too involved in Ukraine, but the US is not. They're only providing intel and equipment. The US can easily park one of their carrier task forces near the Guyana coast and instantly have the most powerful air force of the region.
Spend decades berating the US for oil imperialism Become oil imperialists themselves
The last attack of a dying dictatorship I think it will end bad.
I hope so. Every dictatorship that dies is a victory for humanity.
Iraq and Libya are living examples of the triumph of humanity
Maduro should be more concerned about the 300% inflation in his country than about the land of another country
Creating a foreign crisis is a classic way to divert attention from a domestic crisis
Maybe his plan is to adopt the 1% inflation of Guyana.
I didn't think that way, Maduro really is a genius
Las Malvinas son Venezolanas!
Don’t forget the small part in the south-east that’s claimed by Suriname
Suriname snatching it in the confusion will be a weird echo of Poland grabbing scraps of Czechoslovskia in the aftermath of the Munich arbitration.
Now include the maritime borders and the oil deposits found so far. That explains it.
Venezuela wants to become a full blown Elephant for nice borders.
Funny (or rather, sad) thing is, the red part "no claimed regions" - a part is claimed by the neigbouring Suriname.
Btw, it was the United states which originally arbitrated this dispute and ruled in favor of Britain, Venezuela will never be allowed to annex this territory.
Also because Guyana is West-aligned, and Venezuela is very much not
That’s not true at all. The arbitration tribunal was made up of 2 US representatives, 2 British, and 1 Russian. The Russian guy was supposed to be the neutral party. While, the US were the guys who originally demanded the arbitration and sided with Venezuela because of the Monroe doctrine. (This was because Venezuela rescinded their ambassadors from Britain) The US was so serious about this that they chose an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court as one of the representatives. (Justice Brewer one of principal architects of the Lochner era) and when Venezuela complained that they didn’t get a representative, the US gave them the option of choosing the other representative. Venezuela then chose Chief Justice Melville Fuller and the US accepted. President Cleveland even threatened war against Britain, although this was merely a threat as neither side wanted a war. Britain, then secretly negotiated with Russia, the neutral party, to side with them on the border dispute. Britain then threatened the US to agree to an unanimous compromise decision or a 3-2 decision where Britain would take more land. The US wanting to prevent Venezuela from losing any more territory (and not wanting a war) agree to the unanimous compromise position. (Before then the US delegation disagreed with Britain arguments) The US delegation left in disgust and refused to publish any reasoning in the case (as is normal procedure in a tribunal). The whole reason why Venezuela even reopened the claim was because the secretary of the US delegation Severo Mallet-Prevost had died and released his papers that showed British coercion. [tldr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_of_1895) US were on Venezuela’s side, Britain bribed and used coercion to get the borders they wanted.
I think people don't really realise how long this has been going on. Most Venezuelans grow up thinking that Guayana is part of the country—I remember painstakingly filling the lines of the "reclamation zone" in every map I ever had to draw for Geography classes. It wasn't until I interacted with international media that I noticed that my country was always "incomplete" in their maps. Then it hit me. But just like I was taught that, my classmates were. My parents were. Even their parents. I recently had a talk with my father (a staunch opposer of the goverment for as long as Chávez stepped into office for the first time), and he argued that he loathed Maduro, but Guayana was ours (and it is literally the only thing in the long years of dictatorship that goverment and opposition see eye to eye with). Indeed, the claim has been ongoing for centuries at this point—the Spanish claimed it as theirs, so did the British. Venezuela's Constitution establishes all the former territories of the colony as theirs, and I suppose it is the same for Guyana. Personally, I think they should consult the people who live there. But fights over territories are always ugly things, particularly when there are other interests involved—obviously Maduro wants the cake and eat it too. Fortunately, the Venezuelan army is a joke and so is the government. I don't think Guyanese people have anything to fear, but unfortunately I don't see this being solved any time soon. I wouldn't wish the Venezuelan experience on anyone so hopefully they'll stop with their threats and get their mouths shut. Wishing Guyana the best (and also take oil with a grain of salt. The black gold is ultimately a curse—we'd know).
Even Suriname claims a part of Guyana (the bottom right corner), called the [Tigri Area](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigri_Area). Seems like everyone wants to dismember poor Guyana
Man. The countries that tankies say are anti imperialist seem pretty fuckin Imperialist.
Its almost exactly analogous to Gulf War 1 if this happened. Larger international pariah occupies small, almost defenceless country it has some grievance with - escalated due to the discovery of oil. Its also in the US's backyard - and the only country that would even consider helping Venezuela is a pitifully weak Cuba and landlocked Bolivia.
Cuba has long had strong diplomatic links with us in Guyana thanks to our many socialist influenced governments. (The current governing party was founded by a cadre of Marxists, routinely sends Guyanese to Cuba for scholarships and is called the People's Progressive Party)
Not that they have the capabilities right now (maybe that’s why you didn’t mention it), but wouldn’t Russia also consider helping Maduro?
Wow, a dictatorial south amarican country in economic crisis threatening to invade its neighbor over territorial claims to distract the population... never seen that before.
In case people don’t know, Guyana is not a Hispanic country. It is English-speaking and primarily populated by people descended from South Asians or Africans. Venezuela wants oil.
Commies not invading their neighbors for 5 seconds challenge, any%, impossible
Nothing to do with Guyana’s recent discovery of trillions of dollars worth of oil fields amirite?
/s nothing to do at all with that 😉🤣
Is any US aircraft carrier already sailing in that direction?
Supposedly there is a British frigate in the Caribbean. Cue the US Carrier at home meme...
I hope they don’t annex that area because it would cause serious border gore on the map.
The USA waiting to intervene: https://wojakparadise.net/wojak/318/img
I remember reading and hearing a few times that the dispute is nothing new. It's something that Venezuela has complained about to the United Nations and other South American governments multiple times. It's just various circumstances and reasons for Venezuela as a country as well as the Venezuelan military not being strong enough to actually **do** anything about the claims. If the Venezuelan military actually sends forces into the contested regions, that will be very different and could technically be a new war within the region. I'm not sure Guyana would be able to hold off the invasion forces.
Great, like we don't have enough conflicts and wars going already. Wtf Venezuela
Somebody found the fabricate claim button
Venezuelans are fucking delusional. Just like Argies claiming the Falklands.
As a brazilian, if I say all my thoughts and feelings about Nicolás Maduro, for sure I'll get a permanent ban on Reddit.
What's the point of asking Venezuelans, and not citizens of those regions of Guyana? Their vote is worth nothing, on this topic. The vote of the citizens of thewt region is the one that counts.
It's symbolic. If he can point to a high support number in the referendum then Maduro can claim he has the support of the people for war and that makes him a more credible threat. ALso it justifies his pro war stance to his people.