[News Spot] "We Will Grant Citizenship" Venezuela Eyes 'Esequiba'

Venezuela, which claims sovereignty over the South American territory of ‘Guayana Esequiba,’ has decided to proceed with a referendum to grant citizenship to residents of the area, escalating tensions between Venezuela and Guyana to a peak.

Guayana Esequiba means ‘Esequiba region of Guyana’ and collectively refers to six administrative districts located on the west bank of the Essequibo River in central-eastern Guyana: Barima-Waini, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Pomeroon-Supenaam, Potaro-Siparuni, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, and Essequibo Islands-West Demerara. This area covers approximately 159,500 km², accounting for about 70% of Guyana’s total land area. The population is ethnically diverse, including Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Afro-Guyanese, Indo-Guyanese, and Europeans. While English is the official language, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Hindi, and Arabic are also commonly spoken.

The background to Venezuela’s active claim over this area, which is effectively controlled by Guyana, lies in oil reserves. Since the discovery of large-scale crude oil deposits off the coast of this region in 2015?previously known for agriculture producing rice, sugarcane, bananas, and cocoa?Guyana has transformed from an agricultural country into an emerging oil producer. ExxonMobil, which conducted oil exploration in Guyana at the time, estimated that approximately 3.2 to 5 billion barrels of oil are trapped in the offshore waters of Guayana Esequiba. This equates to about 4,000 to 6,200 barrels per capita.

Since the commencement of full-scale oil drilling in 2019, Guyana’s economic growth rate has surged from the previous 3-4% range to double digits. Last year, the economy grew by an astonishing 62.3%, making it the world’s fastest-growing economy. This growth trend is expected to continue this year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Guyana’s economy to grow by 38% this year, which is more than ten times the IMF’s global economic growth forecast of 3.0%.

Following the development of oil fields in the Guayana Esequiba region and Guyana’s rapid transformation from an agricultural country to an emerging oil producer, territorial disputes with Venezuela have intensified. Venezuela has asserted its sovereignty over Guayana Esequiba and even detained oil exploration vessels operating with the approval of the Guyanese government.

Although the 1899 arbitration tribunal ruled that the land belongs to Guyana, and this ruling has stood to this day, Venezuela has filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based on the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which calls for a ‘peaceful resolution of the dispute with Guyana.’ Additionally, Venezuela plans to hold a referendum on July 3 to grant Venezuelan citizenship to the residents of Guyana.