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News

Venezuela and Venezuelans Now Face an Uncertain Future

In a previous article published a few days before Venezuela’s national elections, I mentioned that “the fate of Guyana’s western neighbor hung in the balance.” Nearly two weeks later, the situation remains the same. Yes, a lot has changed, but the more things changed, the more they remained the same. Venezuelans went out in their numbers on that fateful day of July 28, braving rain and sun, and voted for change: for the betterment and future of Venezuela. They overwhelmingly elected the Unitary Platform led by Edmundo Gonzalez and party leader Maria Corina. But to date, despite popular support, these daring politicians are still unable to wrest control of the country from dictator Nicolas Maduro who is holding the country of Venezuela hostage through corrupt use of the armed forces.

News

Why the Ongoing Political Crisis in Venezuela Should be Everybody’s Business

Venezuela is one of the most resource dense countries in the world. With first oil production starting as early as 1914, the current leaders are still sitting on over 300 billion barrels of oil. On top of that, the Spanish speaking country boasts one of the world’s largest deposits of natural gas. This is in addition to gold, diamond, bauxite, iron ore, timber, and other abundant natural resources. Further, Venezuela has some of the most coveted tourism destinations in the world.

News

Why is Russia Sending Warships to Venezuela in the Coming Weeks?

Several reputable international media houses, including Yahoo! and Reuters, have reported that Russia will be sending a “relatively small number” of “combat vessels” to the Caribbean “this summer.” These warships are expected to conduct military exercises in the Caribbean sea and possibly make stops at Cuban and Venezuelan ports, according to Yahoo! Reuters, and the Guardian. This publication has received intelligence that the warships will “more than likely” convene with the Venezuelan military for joint naval exercises. The warships will be shadowed by Russian military jets.

News

The Venezuelan Military is Constructing a Bridge Linking the Ankoko Island to Guyana

A few months ago, I followed the Venezuelan government’s media pages and read with interest the stories of the Venezuelan military building a steel base concrete bridge connecting the once disputed Ankoko Island to the rest of Venezuela. For those of you who didn’t know, Venezuela seized the disputed Ankoko Island and turned it into a military base in 1966 without an ounce of resistance or a shot fired from Guyana. Forbes Burnham was in power at the time.

News

Civil War Brews in Venezuela as Maduro Closes United Nations Human Rights Office

The Maduro Regime in Venezuela, South America, has closed the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and sent the commissioner packing. The mandate of the Office in any country is to support human rights for the residents of that country and take measures to protect them against human rights abuse – something that is rife under the government of Nicolas Maduro.

News

Venezuela Appears to be Closing in on the Essequibo, but Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Worry

For months leading up to their infamous December 3 sham referendum, the Venezuelan government has been threatening to annex the Essequibo while ramping up troops and military equipment close to the border with Guyana. Even after CARICOM brokered peace talks and the signing of the Argyle agreement by Presidents of both countries, satellite images, international intelligence, and other hard evidence show that Venezuela has not slowed its military advances on the Essequibo, nor has it retracted its claim to it. In fact, right now, the official Venezuelan map includes the Essequibo as part of Venezuela – a flagrant move by the Maduro regime which can hopefully be rolled back after a change of Venezuelan government. But whether Maduro will even allow free and fair elections in Venezuela is highly doubtful.

News

Venezuelan Economy Regains Traction as US Lifts Sanctions

The once floundering Venezuelan economy, the failure of which has put millions of Venezuelans on the breadline and sent millions more fleeing starvation, is regaining traction as US lifts crippling sanctions and Venezuela becomes able to sell its oil to once blocked markets. Already, India, China, and United States have started to import crude from Venezuela bringing the glimmer of hope that the Venezuelan economy will be flooded with Petro dollars once again like it was in the good old days of the 90s.

News

Understanding the Venezuelan Rhetoric of the Border Controversy

For most Guyanese, the idea of a Venezuelan takeover of the Essequibo is as repulsive as it is unthinkable. That’s because Guyana has been administering the Essequibo territory for centuries. It’s hard to wrap our minds around the thought that Venezuelans actually believe that the Essequibo belongs to them. However, a practical approach to this showdown demands that we understand the Venezuelan rhetoric with regards to the border dispute, thus shedding light on why so many Venezuelans say, “El Esequibo es de Venezuela.”

About Guyana

Essequibo Belongs to Guyana: Here are the Facts

Under the Geneva Agreement, the following were pursued by Guyana and Venezuela: Four (4) years (1966-1970) of meeting through a Mixed Commission involving bilateral talks between Guyana and Venezuela, a twelve (12) year moratorium (with the purpose of allowing both governments to promote cooperation and understanding while the border claim was in abeyance) and twenty years (1989 – 2017) of the Good Offices Process, under the aegis of the United Nations Secretary General (a process that allowed for bilateral discussions on a resolution of the controversy in the presence of the Secretary General’s personal representative).

News

Venezuela and Guyana Agree to Keep South America a Zone of Peace

While it does not guarantee that other South American nations will not go to war with each other for whatever reasons, Guyana and Venezuela has, yesterday, in a historic development, agreed to do their part in keeping South America a zone of peace. The agreement was reached during a CARICOM brokered meeting aimed at promoting peace between the two neighboring countries. It was mediated by leaders from both CELAC and CARICOM.

News

BREAKING! Nicolas Maduro Calls for Peace and Dialogue

A now subdued Maduro, battered by overwhelming support for Guyana and strong condemnation of his aggression towards Guyana, after much saber rattling, has now lowered his guns and is calling for peace and dialogue in the context of the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy. But is it a genuine sentiment or just the calm before another storm? What happens when Maduro walks away from the meeting today without what he wants – a compromise on the Essequibo region – which President is firmly resolved not to give in to? Will he continue to talk peace or will he start to beat the drums of war all over again?

News

Venezuelan Military Reportedly Constructing A New Naval Base 70 KM from Guyana

The Venezuelan military has announced, on the 30th of November, 2023, that it is constructing a new naval base 70 km away from Guyana. When Venezuela’s Admiral Neil Villamizar Sánchez, Chief Commander of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela, made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), he spoke in the context of “recovering” the disputed Essequibo county of Guyana. According to Neil Sánchez, the new naval base is part of a broader strategy. It will strengthen maritime logistics, especially in the Orinoco Delta.

News

Maduro Reportedly Offered Lula the Once Disputed Pirara Area in Exchange for Military Alliance

Confidential sources close to both the Venezuelan and Brazilian government and military related to this publication on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the subject that Nicolas Maduro proposed to Lula Da Silva of Brazil that he would return the once-disputed Pirara Area to Brazil if Brazil allows the Venezuelan military to access its border in order to invade Guyana through Region 9.

News

Risk of Venezuelan Invasion of Guyana Now Greatly Reduced

From rallying an army of liberators whom he compares to the likes of Bolivar Simon, to proclaiming an unwavering commitment to peace and freedom tempered with the defense of sovereignty, the back and forth between war and peace coming from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been a hard one to keep up with. One thing is for sure, in the last two months or so, the Chavista had the Guyanese people and Government on their knees and toes.

News

Is Nicolas Maduro Daring Enough to Test the Resolve of the United Kingdom?

While Venezuela may have spent a lot of money building up its military, it is no position to sustain a full scale war. With its stockpile of 5,000 Russian-made MANPADS surface-to-air weapons, Venezuela may be very capable of defending itself against an attack and stave off an incursion into its own territory. But while its defense capability may be strong, its collapsed economy has weakened the military’s attack capabilities. In spite of this, Venezuela’s dictator president, Nicolas Maduro, is threatening to annex the Essequibo region of Guyana and occupy it by force.

News

Brazil is Committed to Remaining Neutral in Event of War Between Guyana and Venezuela

In a previous article, we explained how President Ali had asked President Lula of Brazil around November 19, 2023 to dissuade Nicolas Maduro from holding his December 3 referendum aimed at annexing the Essequibo county by force. We also explained how President Lula did little to nothing to help the situation. Venezuela is threatening to annex the Essequibo, and is moving forward, which by itself is a threat of war. The Guyana Government, lacking a competent military, is relying on diplomatic strength to tide Guyana over this situation.

News

Nicolas Maduro Has Virtually Declared War on Guyana

On Sunday, 3rd of December, 2023, dictator president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, held a referendum which sought the approval of the Venezuelan people to annex the Essequibo territory and make it part of Venezuela – by force and without consultation with, or the approval of, the Guyana Government. According to the National Electorate Council of Venezuela, over 10 million voters turned up to the polls and over 95% voted yes to all five of the following questions:

News

Do Venezuelans Really Believe that the Essequibo Belongs to Venezuela?

It has been taught in Venezuelan schools for the last 50 years or more that the Essequibo belongs to Venezuela and that the British stole it from them. But when Venezuelans wanted to visit the Essequibo, they made sure they got their passport stamped. They learned in theory then that the Essequibo belongs to Venezuela and in practice that it belongs to Guyana. This causes serious mental crosscurrents in their minds.

News

Maria Corina Chooses Her Words Carefully While Condemning Maduro’s Essequibo Referendum

Maria Coria Machado, Venezuela’s political front runner and leader of the main opposition party which is expected to challenge Nicolas Maduro for the Presidency in October 2024, has condemned Nicolas Maduro’s December 3 referendum which seeks public support in annexing the Essequibo. But she has chosen her words very carefully and wisely. On one hand, she seems to want to send a message of peace and respect for international law to the Guyanese Government and people, but at the same time, she has to avoid being seen as a traitor to the Venezuelan people who were erroneously being taught since primary school that “the Essequibo belongs to Venezuela.”

News

A Drowning Maduro is Attempting to Take Guyana Down With Him

Maduro’s philosophy right now seems to be, “if I’m going down, I’m taking some people down with me.” And those include leaders, civilians, and soldiers in both Guyana and Venezuela. Since the Chavista took office in 2013, he has done nothing good for the people of Venezuela. He has heartlessly overseen mass migration, unprecedented inflation of the Venezuelan currency, medical and food shortages, and the overall suffering of the Venezuelan people.

News

Guyana Cannot Depend on Brazil for Military Support if Venezuela Invades

It is unlikely that the current Brazilian government, headed by Lula Da Silva, will give military support to Guyana in the event of an invasion by Venezuela. In fact, “unlikely” is a bit of an understatement. It is almost certain that Brazil, on its current stance and trajectory, will render any sort of military assistance to Guyana in the event of a Venezuelan incursion into Guyana.

News

How Nicolas Maduro is Using the Essequibo as a Political Ploy to Cling to Power

There’s just about three days left before Venezuela’s 3rd of December referendum which seeks to ratify the support of the Venezuelan people for forcefully annexing the Essequibo county of Guyana and making it into a new state within the country of Venezuela. While the Guyana Government has petitioned the ICJ to issue a ruling that confirms the illegality of such a move, and the court is scheduled to do so on Friday, December, 1, 2023, president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has said that that won’t stop him from flooding the Essequibo with Venezuelan soldiers and civilians and demarcating new boundaries for Venezuela after the referendum.

News

Brazilian Media Officially Confirms Military Reinforcements on the Venezuela/Brazil Border

Brazil’s largest and most reputable media house, Globo, has officially confirmed on the afternoon of Tuesday, November, 29th, 2023, that Brazilian military reinforcements were being sent to the border between Venezuela and Brazil and Pacaraima to protect the citizens of Brazil in the event of a war between Venezuela and Guyana, or if Venezuela invades Guyana with low to no resistance.

News

Maria Corina Machado Offers New Hope to Venezuela, Guyana, and the Wider Latin American Community

While the failed Chavismo economic policies have put millions of Venezuelan citizens on the breadline, and sent millions more fleeing the ongoing economic crisis to the shores of various nations around the world, the new front runner in Venezuela’s political race, Maria Corina Machado, is the hope millions of Venezuelans desperately cling to — the redeemer whom they hope will return the oil capital of the world, the once most glorious, bright and shining star of South America, Venezuela, to the heights of its former glory.

News

Dr. Jagdeo Says All Options Are On the Table as Guyana Braces for a Possible Venezuelan Invasion

For far too long, the Guyana Government has simply shrugged at the thought of Venezuela invading the Essequibo and occupying it, but in recent days, they seem to be taking it a bit more seriously. Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, in a press conference yesterday, 23rd of November, 2023, said that all options are on the table for protecting Guyana from a Venezuelan invasion of the Essequibo, and this includes use of force.

News

GDF Bans Officers from Leaving Country as Fears of a Venezuela Incursion Grow

The Guyana Government, through the Guyana Defense Force, has confined all GDF officers to remain within the country’s borders as of yesterday, 16th of November, 2023. This move came as tensions between Guyana and neighboring Venezuela intensifies, nurturing fears of a possible war between the two countries. Further, the GDF is ramping troops and military equipment near to Guyana’s border with Venezuela.

News

Venezuela Has Already Created a Pretext for War

Usually, when corrupt leaders want to invade a country, they create a pretext. This false claim that the US intends to “militarize” the disputed territory will be used by Venezuela to try to justify its forceful annexation of the Essequibo. It is already doing a good job fooling its gullible population who needs no convincing and who are united in the cause of “defending the Essequibo.”

News

A Cold War Between Guyana and Venezuela Heats Up

A centuries-old cold war between the countries of Guyana and Venezuela is heating up and taking new shape and form. Since the mid-1700’s, then British Guiana and its western neighbor, Venezuela, have traded a war of words, and sometimes even a gunshot or two, over the Essequibo county of Guyana. In 1899, the Paris Award settled the dispute in favor of the British Empire, giving the Essequibo, the region west of the Essequibo river up to the mouth of the Orinoco River, to Guyana. Official borders, which consists of the Schomburgk line between Guyana and Venezuela, were drawn up and boundary markers were placed at the border line between the two countries.

News

A Venezuelan Incursion into Guyana is Now a Real and Present Danger

For years, Guyanese have trivialized the idea of Venezuela annexing the Essequibo and seizing it by force. We’ve made fun and jokes about it. After all, the probability of Venezuela making such a bold and daring move seemed laughably small. Since the early 2000s, Venezuela was beset by internal political turmoils and a looming economic crisis with which it is still wrestling, so invading Guyana was not a top priority.

Editorials

Does Venezuela Really Have a Legitimate Claim to the Essequibo?

While the tyrannical Maduro dictatorship regime and its media cheerleaders are beating the drums of war, the question arises: is this a complete act of bullyism or does Venezuela really have a legitimate claim to the Essequibo? From a patriotic standpoint, I’d say, “No. Venezuela has no claim to the Essequibo.” However, from a neutral standpoint, I’d have to admit that it does.

Commentaries

Opinion: Guyana Needs to Support US Action in Venezuela

As the United States increases pressure on Maduro to step down from government, the world becomes more and more critical of US Sanctions and the role it is playing in Venezuela. In fact, a recent Washington based report suggests that US Sanctions are responsible for the deaths of thousands of Venezuelans. But while no one is a fan of US Sanctions or the use of force in effecting regime change, the reality hits home that Guyana needs to support US action in Venezuela.