A potential conflict in South America has attracted international attention, and the focus of this conflict is Guyana, which has been rarely mentioned in the international community. This time, Guyana suddenly became the focus of attention because of the territorial dispute with neighboring Venezuela, as well as the actions involving Brazil, the United States and other parties, and even appeared on the hot search list of some overseas social **.
The dispute stems from Guyana, in the north of South America, where neighboring Venezuela plans to hold a referendum in early December to decide the fate of two-thirds of Guyana's territory. This has caused widespread concern in the international community, because as is often the case, the resolution of territorial disputes does not depend on referendums in neighboring countries.
To understand this event, we need to go back to before Guyana's independence from the United Kingdom. During the era when European colonizers entered South America in large numbers, the Guyana region became the focus of competition among many countries, and was once divided between the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, France and Britain. Due to the constant geopolitical changes, the original Portuguese Guiana was subsumed into Brazil, Dutch Guiana became Suriname, French Guiana still existed as an overseas territory of France, Spanish Guiana was mostly subsumed into Venezuela, and British Guiana became the protagonist of today's events - the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
However, prior to Guyana's independence, there were territorial disputes between the United Kingdom and Venezuela, particularly involving nearly 160,000 square kilometres of land in the Essequibo region. The Venezuelan side has long maintained that the land, which was occupied by Britain in 1835, was originally part of Spanish Guiana and should belong to Venezuela. Although the two sides had decided to put aside the dispute after the intervention of international organizations such as the United Nations, the territorial issue came back into focus as time went on.
In 2015, the discovery of rich oil and gas resources in the waters near Essequibo sparked a territorial dispute between the two countries, which even extended to territorial waters. Guyana's announcement to develop oil and gas resources in the waters around Essequibo has caused discontent in Venezuela. Earlier this year, Guyana again pushed the dispute to the International Court of Justice, but the Venezuelan side has no intention of abandoning the dispute.
For now, Venezuela** plans to hold a referendum in early December on whether to grant Venezuelan citizenship to residents of the Essequibo region and establish a new province on the disputed land. Although Guyana has referred the matter to the International Court of Justice, Venezuela is not ready to abandon plans for a referendum. This has raised international concerns about whether Venezuela will use force to seize control of the region after the referendum.
Behind this geopolitical game, the role of the United States is becoming more and more important. Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been strained, and the United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela for years. It is worth noting that in the territory of Guyana, the overseas enterprise mainly engaged in oil extraction is ExxonMobil Petroleum, which is headquartered in the United States. In July, the U.S. military led a military exercise in Guyana and considered stationing troops there. With the United States already stationed troops in Colombia, Venezuela could face the threat of being caught between two sides.
In addition, Guyana** has long considered ensuring its own security by getting close to the United States. With military spending of less than $100 million, a total force of less than 10,000 troops, and a lack of heavy troops, Guyana is militarily at a significant disadvantage compared to Venezuela, which has a total strength of more than 100,000 troops. After the United States expressed its willingness to garrison troops, Guyana offered to have U.S. troops stationed directly in the Essequibo area.
The U.S. Embassy in Guyana issued a statement saying that the U.S. military will strengthen its military partnership with the Guyana Defense Force, and that the U.S. Army's First Security Force has met with Guyana's military leadership.
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