Caribbean

U.S. Conducts Joint Military Flight Drills in Guyana After Venezuela Ordered “Immediate” Exploitation of Disputed Essequibo Region

Tensions between Guyana and Venezuela have ratcheted up since last Sunday’s controversial referendum in the latter country. Initial claims by Venezuelan authorities of over 10 million people – more than half of the country’s registered voters – turning out to participate in the vote have been cast into doubt by media reports of sparsely-attended polling stations across the republic.  Nevertheless, buoyed by what he called the “overwhelming” result in favor of his plans to ignore a recent ICJ ruling and proceed with the annexation of the Essequibo region, a vast swathe of Guyanese territory, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday ordered state-owned entities to “immediately” begin the exploitation of Guyana’s Essequibo region for minerals, oils and gas. To support his directive, Mr. Maduro also deployed military assets to create a staging location near the Venezuela-Guyana border, previewed new legislation to create a new state in the disputed territory, and announced the appo...