Within the referendum Venezuelan voters have been requested whether or not they assist establishing a state in Essequibo.
Venezuela has claimed it has massive public assist to take over an oil-rich area throughout the border in Guyana.
The referendum consequence, introduced on Monday, got here after the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) warned Caracas in opposition to “annexation” of the territory referred to as Essequibo, which has lengthy been dominated by Guyana.
“It has been a total success for our country, for our democracy,” President Nicolas Maduro instructed supporters gathered within the capital.
Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali stated his authorities is working constantly to make sure the nation’s borders “remain intact” and stated folks have “nothing to fear over the next number of hours, days, months ahead”.
What have been voters requested?
Maduro claimed that the referendum had a “very important level of participation”.
After the voting ended on Sunday, the Nationwide Electoral Council in Venezuela claimed to have counted greater than 10.5 million votes.
However only some voters may very well be seen at polling websites all through the voting interval, information wires reported.
“I came to vote because Essequibo is ours, and I hope that whatever they are going to do, they think about it thoroughly and remember to never put peace at risk,” service provider Juan Carlos Rodríguez, 37, instructed The Related Press information company after voting at a centre in Caracas the place solely a handful of individuals have been in line.
Every voter was asked five questions, together with in the event that they agreed with creating a brand new state referred to as Guayana Esequiba within the Essequibo area, granting its inhabitants Venezuelan citizenship, in addition to identification playing cards, and incorporating that state into the map of Venezuelan territory.
The electoral council, nonetheless, didn’t clarify whether or not the variety of votes was equal to every voter or if it was the sum of all of the solutions.
Additionally it is not but clear how Maduro will implement the outcomes of the vote.
‘Textbook example of annexation’
The referendum in Venezuela was held after the ICJ urged the nation to chorus from “taking any action” that would alter the established order within the area.
On Friday, the worldwide court docket president Joan E Donoghue stated statements from Venezuela’s authorities counsel it “is taking steps with a view toward acquiring control over and administering the territory in dispute”.
“Furthermore, Venezuelan military officials announced that Venezuela is taking concrete measures to build an airstrip to serve as a ‘logistical support point for the integral development of the Essequibo’,” she stated.
However Guyana has all the time feared that the referendum may very well be a pretext for a land seize.
“The collective decision called for here involves nothing less than the annexation of the territory in dispute in this case,” Paul Reichler, an American lawyer representing Guyana, instructed the ICJ. “This is a textbook example of annexation.”
Essequibo is bigger than Greece and wealthy in minerals. It additionally offers entry to an space of the Atlantic the place power large ExxonMobil found oil in industrial portions in 2015, drawing the eye of Maduro’s authorities.
Caracas considers Essequibo as its personal as a result of the area was inside its boundaries throughout Spanish colonial instances.
The Guyanese authorities insists on retaining the border decided in Paris in 1899 by an arbitration panel whereas claiming that Venezuela had agreed with the ruling till it modified its thoughts in 1962.
