Last night, Maduro gave a speech before the National Assembly in which he spoke of a far-reaching conspiracy against Venezuela to deprive it of a territory it considers its own: the Essequibo region. According to an 1899 treaty, that territory belongs to Guyana.
During his speech, Maduro said that he had recalled Venezuela’s ambassador to Guyana, Reyna Margarita Arratia, reduced embassy staff in Georgetown reduced, and that he had asked Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez to formally re-asses Venezuela’s stance towards its neighbour.
While he emphasized his “friendship and sincere respect” towards the people of Guayana, he called the Essequibo affairs a “painful wound” at Venezuela’s side, and vowed to push to reclaim the region.
Granger: Guyana is “Victim of Aggression”
Guyanese President David Granger reacted to Maduro’s speech today, and accused Maduro of “raising tensions” in the region and further isolating Venezuela from its neighbours.
Granger also said that he was “disappointed” with Maduro’s posturing.
Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, spoke to the media today about Maduro’s speech. He accused Venezuela of pushing the Essequibo issue now in order to get rights to offshore resources, saying:
What they have done is illegal internationally and they are seeking to change borders set by themselves and the British and the Brazilians over a hundred years ago and clearly people are going to be concerned about that, but when you go beyond that now and seek to be seizing marine resources in circumstances where access to those resources are defined by clearly set out international principles then you only have yourself to blame.
Daniel Ceballos to Run for AN
The Mesa de la Unidad Democratica announced today that former San Cristobal mayor Daniel Ceballos will make a run at the National Assembly in the upcoming December elections.
Ceballos was removed from his post as mayor of San Cristobal and sentenced to twelve months in prison after he was found to have ignored orders to quell protests in his city. He is currently still incarcerated at the Ramo Verde military prison outside of Caracas.
Yesterday, there was some concern that a court order would seek to bar Ceballos from running for any kind of political office. The national coordinator of the Voluntad Popular party, Freddy Guevara, assured the press last night that this was not the case.
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