CARACAS, Venezuela
It is "an evident and overwhelming victory for the 'Yes' in this consultative referendum," said the president of the National Electoral Council, Elvis Amoroso.
About 10.5 million of Venezuela's
20.7 million eligible voters took part in the consultation, which raised fears
in Guyana, and around the region, about Venezuela's ultimate intentions over
the contested territory.
Electoral officials kept
polling stations open an additional two hours, until 8:00 pm (0000 GMT), to
allow people already at the facilities to vote in the referendum, which the
government hopes will strengthen its century-old claim to the oil-rich Essequibo
territory governed by Guyana.
"Today is a day of
ratification, of national sovereignty, and the people have done it with flying
colors," said Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino in an evening address on
state television.
In Guyana,
thousands of people, some of them wearing T-shirts reading "Essequibo
belongs to Guyana," formed human chains in solidarity with their
government, and their president offered assurances that the country's borders
were secure.
The Maduro government has said
it is not seeking justification to invade or annex the huge territory, as some
fear in Guyana, an English-speaking former British colony.
And regardless of the outcome
of the vote, little will change in the short term: The people of Essequibo are
not voting, and the referendum is nonbinding.
But tensions have been rising
since Guyana took bids in September for several offshore oil exploration
blocks, and after a major new find was announced in October. Its petroleum
reserves are similar to those of Kuwait, with the highest reserves per capita
in the world.
Meanwhile, Maduro's government
which faces a severe economic crisis released a video Sunday suggesting that
some Guyanese would prefer to be under Venezuelan rule.
It purportedly shows an
Indigenous group of Pemon adults in Guyana lowering the nation's flag and
raising a Venezuelan flag in its stead. One begins to sing the Venezuelan
national anthem.
Guyana's President Irfaan Ali
said Sunday that his government was working to protect the country's borders
and keep people safe.
"I want to assure
Guyanese that there is nothing to fear," Ali said in an address carried on
Facebook.
Venezuela has claimed the huge
territory of Essequibo for decades -- even though its 160,000 square kilometres
(62,000 square miles) represent more than two-thirds of Guyana, and its
population of 125,000 is one-fifth Guyana's total.
Caracas contends that the
Essequibo River to the region's east is the natural border between the two
countries, as declared in 1777 under Spanish rule, and that Britain wrongly
appropriated Venezuelan lands in the 19th century.
Guyana, however, asserts the
border was set in the British colonial era and was confirmed in 1899 by a court
of arbitration. It says the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN's top
judicial body, has validated this finding.
Guyana had asked the ICJ to
block the referendum. But while the court on Friday urged Caracas to take no
action that might affect the disputed territory, it did not mention the
measure.
The referendum covers five
questions, including proposals for the creation of a Venezuelan province to be
called "Guyana Essequibo," giving the inhabitants Venezuelan
citizenship, as well as a call to reject the ICJ's jurisdiction.
The referendum "will
probably produce the result desired by Maduro," Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva said from Dubai, where he is attending the COP28
environment conference. But "I hope good sense will prevail."
In Guyana, some locals played
down the vote.
"The referendum is
probably important for them, for Venezuela -- not for us," said Dilip
Singh, a businessman who lives in the disputed region.
"I grew up in
Essequibo," he said, adding, "The Spanish have never occupied it --
not at any time in our history... Now it is independent, and it will always be
so."
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