Venezuelans voted in favor of the intentions of the government of President Nicolas Maduro regarding Venezuela’s annexation of the Essequibo region, disputed with neighboring Guyana, the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced.
“[Foi] The yes vote in the consultative referendum on Essequibo was a “clear and overwhelming victory,” National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso said on Sunday, highlighting that the popular poll recorded 10,554,320 votes.
According to the National Election Commission, 97.83% of votes answered affirmatively to the first question, agreeing to “reject by all means, in accordance with the law, the fraudulent line imposed by the Paris Arbitration Order,” and 2.17% voted against it.
Regarding the second question, 98.11% said that they support “the 1966 Geneva Agreement as the only valid legal instrument to achieve a practical and satisfactory solution for Venezuela and Guyana with regard to the conflict,” while 1.8% voted against it.
In the third question, 95.40% voted in favor of “Venezuela’s historical position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to resolve the regional conflict,” while 4.10% voted against it.
In the next question, 95.94% of the votes answered in the affirmative “to oppose, by all means and in accordance with the law, the requirement for Guyana to act unilaterally in the indefinite sea, illegally and in violation of international law.” In the opposite direction, 4.06% voted against it.
For the fifth and final question, 95.93% of the votes were in favor of “the establishment of the State of Guyana Essequibo and the rapid development of a plan for the comprehensive welfare of the present and future inhabitants of that region, including, among other things.” Granting Venezuelan citizenship and identity cards, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement and international law, thus integrating that country into the Venezuelan territory map,” while 4.07% of voters voted against that.
The Essequibo region, which appears on Venezuelan maps as an “area under claim,” has been under UN mediation since 1966, when the Geneva Agreement was signed.
Essequibo, which has an area of 160,000 square kilometers and is rich in minerals, is under the administration of Guyana, based on a document signed in Paris in 1899, setting territorial borders that Venezuela does not accept.
The controversy has intensified in recent years after the North American oil company ExxonMobil discovered, in 2015, several reserves of crude oil in the territorial waters of the disputed region.