With the world distracted by the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, Venezuela is opting to set forth its imperialist agenda by annexing a part of neighboring Guyana. The broken and corrupt socialist dictatorship needs oil to limp along, and they claim that this land grab has been approved through a referendum, which supposedly 10.5 million people participated in, though polling locations were reportedly barren.
Yet, this is President Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela, where anything he supports gets at least 120% of all the votes. So, with this fugazi mandate being approved with 145% of the vote, the socialist nation aims to annex most of Guyana. There could be another reason why Venezuela wants to pursue this course of action. Though oil is a national priority, it’s another distraction from the abysmal living conditions in the country (via WSJ):
The President of Guyana speaks to the nation about to threat of a Venezuela invasion.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 6, 2023
1. Guyana is taking “pre-cautionary measures”
2. Guyanas Armed Forced have been placed on full alert
3. Guyana has reached out to its allies: USA, Brazil, UK and France pic.twitter.com/tVnPWb40Ef
Venezuela is ratcheting up its claims to a swath of Guyana, its oil-rich neighbor, which has recently become one of the world’s hottest energy frontiers.
The growing dispute between Venezuela’s authoritarian regime and Guyana involves a vast area facing Tuschen village called Essequibo, and comes as an Exxon Mobil-led consortium has made a series of offshore oil discoveries and Guyana pushes for more hydrocarbons exploration in areas that Venezuela claims as its own.
On Sunday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro staged a referendum on Guyana, which he said gives him public approval to annex much of the country. The Guyanese deny that any part of their country belongs to Venezuela, and say their neighbor’s claim has been a constant impediment to their economy and has stymied foreign investment.
“We’re not going to succumb to Venezuela’s bullyism,” Guyana Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said at a recent news conference. “We’re not a belligerent country…but we will defend our country by any means whatsoever.”
Jagdeo said Guyana, which has no navy, is working on increasing its defense cooperation with a number of allies, including the U.S., because of Maduro’s threats. Two delegations from the U.S. Defense Department are expected to visit Georgetown, Guyana’s capital, in the coming days, he said.
[…]
Sadio Garavini, a former Venezuelan ambassador to Guyana, said the referendum was largely a wag-the-dog moment for Maduro as he tries to rally support ahead of presidential elections that he is supposed to hold next year as part of a tentative arrangement his government recently reached with the Biden administration. The U.S. in October eased economic sanctions in exchange for democratic reforms, which Caracas has yet to make.
“It’s largely an internal political maneuver to distract public attention from the enormous social disaster we’re living,” said Garavini, referring to Venezuela’s economic crisis during Maduro’s 10-year rule. His tenure has been marked by the exodus of nearly eight million people, or about a quarter of the population.
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And there you have it: 21st-century socialism in Venezuela continues to fail the people, so start a war with nationalist intentions to provide some entertainment. It’s been done before. The military junta in Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands to distract its citizens from the looming economic disaster that was upon them. However, starting a war with Margaret Thatcher’s United Kingdom wasn’t the best idea.
Since 2016, Venezuela has been marred by rolling blackouts and the unavailability of essential goods and medicines. There was a lack of food, so zoos were being broken into and animals taken for sustenance. As the crisis lingered, reports of pets being consumed and things like toilet paper becoming luxury commodities were documented. That hasn’t changed, and now it seems Venezuela has chosen imperialism to right the ship.
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