Guyana Takeover Eyed by Venezuelan Socialist

As Joe Biden moves aggressively to wean his country off fossil fuels, his counterpart to the south, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is looking to annex Guyana to control its vast oil resources. His land grab, which he attempted to validate in a national referendum, is seen as an attempt to shore up his waning popularity in advance of his 2024 re-election bid.

The authoritarian socialist claims that Guyana’s 61,000-square-mile Esequibo region belongs to Venezuela, arguing that borders drawn by international arbitrators in 1899 are invalid. Maduro promises to create the Venezuelan state of Guyana Esequiba, grant Venezuelan citizenship to its residents, and license the state oil company and metal conglomerate to search it for oil. He will also order energy companies currently there, including Houston-based ExxonMobil, to leave in three months. “The world has to know, the Republic of Guyana has to know,” he said, “the Esequibo is ours.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro File Photo

Massive oil reserves off Guyana’s coast were discovered by ExxonMobil in 2015, a windfall that has turned Guyana, previously one of the hemisphere’s poorest countries, into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The government has rejected Maduro’s claims, and the United Nations has referred the matter pending to the International Court of Justice.

The authoritarian's move is in violation of the Monroe Doctrine, the 1823 edict by James Monroe that warns off aggression by foreign nations in the Western Hemisphere. In September, Maduro signed an agreement with China for economic cooperation in trade and tourism. Selling Guyana’s oil to China in exchange for Yuan, rather than U.S.-based Petro Dollars, would be seen as a major infringement on American interests, including the dictates of the Biden administration’s climate goals.

Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chávez in 2013, and several members of his inner circle are under federal criminal indictment in the United States on charges of narcoterrorism. His nation’s once-booming oil industry has been crippled under his leadership by outdated infrastructure, chronic mismanagement and U.S. sanctions. The Biden administration agreed in October to ease some restrictions on Venezuela’s oil sector in exchange for Maduro’s pledge to hold free elections. The two countries had severed diplomatic relations in 2019.

The national referendum to take over the Esequibo region drew minimal interest from Venezuelan voters wary of elections purportedly fixed by Maduro, and its results are not seen as binding.