Page 2 - Essequibo Strip News Today

Venezuela said it was prepared to defend the result of Sunday’s referendum concerning the Essequibo region from US interference in the matter.

President Maduro hailed the “total success” of the referendum as the start of a new era in the territorial dispute.

The Hague-based court’s ruling was welcomed by both Caracas and Georgetown as tensions remain high ahead of Sunday's referendum.

The Venezuelan president rejected 150 years of “abuses by the British empire, now by ExxonMobil and the US Southern Command” concerning the territorial dispute.

Maduro rejected 150 years of “abuses by the British empire, now by ExxonMobil and the US Southern Command” concerning the Essequibo.

Caracas claims that since the referral of the territorial dispute to the ICJ, Georgetown has abandoned direct diplomacy in favor of unilateral actions.

Caracas and Georgetown have historically claimed the Essequibo Strip as part of their territories. The dispute dates back to the 19th century.

The non-binding vote will measure popular support for Caracas’ longstanding territorial claim over the Essequibo Strip.

The Venezuelan government and US-backed opposition returned to dialogue in Barbados to establish electoral conditions.

The Maduro administration had rejected Washington's "colonial" impositions in negotiating a joint natural gas project with Trinidad.