VENEZUELA’S Putin-loving dictator Nicolás Maduro has unveiled a new map that shows two thirds of Guyana under his control.
The unpredictable president, 61, is bringing his country closer to the brink of war as he increasingly ramps up threats to snatch his neighbours oil-rich lands.
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In an over-the-top ceremony, the stern-faced socialist pulled the curtains down on a large new map that clearly depicted the disputed region of Essequibo as part of Venezuela.
Whipping the crows up into a frenzy, Maduro cried: “Let’s see where on the map we will celebrate tonight.
“Long live the complete map of Venezuela!
“Long live the homeland. Long live all of Venezuela!”
Venezuela’s military has been amassing near the border of its small Commonwealth neighbour for weeks now, sparking fears of an impending invasion.
In recent years, Venezuela re-activated their claim to the western part of Guyana since the discovery of offshore oil and gas.
If Maduro follows through with his threats, the conflict could not only spill into Brazil and Colombia, but but the US could be begrudgingly dragged into its midst.
Guyana’s tiny army is now on full alert for an invasion, while Brazil moved troops to the area in preparation.
This week, Washington pledged its “unwavering support” for Guyana which has branded the military buildup as a “pretext for annexation”.
However, Maduro took a swipe at US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his tirade. saying: “He came out to say we Venezuelans have accept the Paris 1899 treaty.
“Who do we listen to, the empire? Or the people?”
The huge flag-waving crowd shouted back: “The people!”
“Do I kneel to the empire?” he said. “No!” they cheered.
“I will never surrender to the empire. We will never surrender to US imperialism,” Maduro yelled.
“Let nobody make a mistake with Venezuela.”
Last night, the United Nations Security Council took no immediate action at a closed emergency meeting requested by Guyana.
However world leaders called for calm and stressed the sovereignty of Guyana must be respected.
Essequibo, which has been disputed for more than a century, makes up about two-thirds of Guyanese territory and is home to 125,000 of its people.
Controversy has simmered since 2015 when US oil giant ExxonMobil, operating under licenses from Guyana, discovered vast oil reserves in the area.
“Guyana and ExxonMobil will have to sit down with us face-to-face sooner rather than later,” Maduro said Friday during the map unveiling ceremony.
Washington provoked an angry response from Caracas by announcing it would hold joint “flight operations within Guyana”.
Maduro condemned the US-Guyana military exercises as a “provocation” and vowed to push ahead with its “recovery” of Essequibo yesterday.
In response, Guyanese Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo said Venezuela “is not going to succeed, now or ever” at taking the region.
In Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voiced “growing concern” on Thursday about the tensions on his country’s northern border.
Lula told a summit of South America’s Mercosur bloc: “If there’s one thing we don’t want here in South America, it’s war.”
The Brazilian army said Wednesday it was reinforcing its presence in two northern cities.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also warned Venezuela not to take “unilateral action” in the dispute.
Guyana is an English-speaking former colony of Britain and the Netherlands.
Russia, a close ally of Venezuela’s Maduro, added its voice Friday, urging a “peaceful solution.”
Guyana insists Essequibo’s frontier was determined by an arbitration panel in 1899.
But Venezuela claims the Essequibo River to the region’s east forms a natural border recognized as far back as 1777.
Officials in Caracas claimed that 95 percent of voters supported the measures to “return” the territory.
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