Venezuela Rejects Guyana's Statements on Essequibo Referendum

The Venezuelan government rejected on Tuesday the statements made by Guyana against the consultative referendum on Essequibo Guyana to be held on December 3.

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Through a statement, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry pointed out that Guyana's position on the popular consultation responds to foreign interests and is loaded with "a deep contempt for the Venezuelan people, its Bolivarian history, and it's right to express itself, in a democratic manner, on matters of special national transcendence."

In the text, the government "categorically rejects the infamous and offensive statements of the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana." They were "drafted by the law firm employed by ExxonMobil, a company that has corrupted the Latin American and Caribbean values of this nation and has bought the Guyanese political class, dragging it into erratic actions, contrary to public international law."

Venezuela denounced that there is a marked commercial and economic interest mediating in the neighboring country, and that the objective is to appropriate the energy resources and try to threaten the peace and stability of Venezuela.

The tweet reads, "Venezuela categorically rejects the infamous and offensive statements made by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana regarding the consultative referendum scheduled for December 3, 2023, which are loaded with deep contempt for the Venezuelan people."

The Venezuelan Government also regretted "the insistent refusal of diplomatic dialogue by the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali." In this sense, the document pointed out that such refusal "threatens a dangerous escalation towards a large-scale conflict, promoted by the U.S. Southern Command."

Venezuela urged the Guyanese government to desist from "its unilateral and subordinated actions to transnational capital," as well as to "resolve the territorial controversy, as agreed with the United Kingdom of Great Britain, just before the birth of Guyana as an independent nation."

The new controversy between Guyana and Venezuela responds to the referendum called by the National Assembly to know the opinion of the citizenship on five questions and thus define the "legal, diplomatic and political actions" to be implemented by the State on the historical territorial dispute over the Essequibo.

The South American nation argued that "the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in full exercise of its powers, has decided to consult the people of Venezuela on the main lines of legal, diplomatic and political actions, with the purpose of asserting the legitimate rights over the territory of the Essequibo Guyana."