Why does venezuela claim guyana

Because the treaty did not define a western boundary, the British commissioned Robert Schomburgk, a surveyor and naturalist, to delineate that boundary. His survey resulted in what came to be known as the Schomburgk Line, a boundary that effectively claimed an additional 30, square miles for Guiana.

In Venezuela disputed the British delineation, claiming territorial delineations established at the time of their independence from Spain. When gold was discovered in the disputed territory, Great Britain sought to further extend its reach, claiming an additional 33, square miles west of the Schomburgk Line, an area where gold had been discovered. In Venezuela protested and appealed to the United States for assistance, citing the Monroe Doctrine as justification for U.

For the next 19 years Venezuela repeatedly petitioned for U. The United States responded by expressing concern, but did little to facilitate a resolution. These anxieties, however, are surely felt elsewhere, as well—by foreign and local investors, and by countries including the U.

The stakes are high for both Guyana and Venezuela. For Guyana, retaining the disputed Essequibo territory is a matter of national survival.

The territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela dates to , when Venezuela alleged that Great Britain had encroached upon its territory. In , Great Britain had acquired the territory that was then known as British Guiana through a treaty with the Netherlands. Venezuela maintained that its border extended east to the Essequibo River—in effect, claiming two-thirds of British Guiana.

The gold discovered in the disputed area in the s led Great Britain to seek new ways to further extend its territorial reach, claiming an additional 33, square miles west of the Schomburgk Line. Venezuela protested in , severing diplomatic relations with Great Britain and appealing to the U. This arbitration process resulted in the October Paris Tribunal Award , which granted Venezuela the mouth of the Orinoco River and a 5, square mile extension around Point Barima and awarded to Great Britain the land to the east, extending to the Essequibo River.

As a follow-up to the Award, a joint Anglo-Venezuelan Commission was formed in to demarcate the boundary; and in , after the boundary had been delineated, British and Venezuelan commissioners produced official maps and signed an agreement verifying that the coordinates of the boundary listed were correct.

Decades later, in , Severo Mallet-Prevost, one of the Venezuelan lawyers present at the arbitration, penned a letter that he asked to be opened only upon his death.

The letter, finally published in , alleged collusion between the Russian president of the tribunal and the British negotiators, to the detriment of Venezuela. Writing in the February 21 edition of the Caracas Chronicles , analyst Reybert Carrillo explains the sizable economic and strategic gains that Venezuela would acquire if it were to take possession of the disputed territory.

Crucially, as the disputed territory includes almost kilometers of new coastline and over 40 square kilometers of ocean waters, the benefits to Venezuela would also include customs taxes, increased fishing opportunities, increased territory for military exercises, increased opportunities for tourism, and the chance to strengthen commercial exchange with Europe and Africa.

Meanwhile, the natural resources that Guyana would gain from annexation of the Essequibo territory would include bauxite, diamond, manganese, gold, and oil. Marquez is a Venezuelan exile and entrepreneur in Miami — and no fan of Venezuela's authoritarian socialist regime. In fact, she heads a nonprofit, INRAV , that helps recover allegedly corrupt assets from that regime. Still, she understands Venezuela's efforts to regain the Esequibo tract.

That abuse of power, they argue, occurred in — and the alleged abuser was Great Britain, which at that time held Guyana as a colony, British Guiana. In the late 19th century, Venezuela and British Guiana were at odds about their border.

So, in , international arbitrators set the map lines as we know them today. But since then most Venezuelans have insisted the agreement wasn't valid because they believe the arbitrators favored the powerful British Empire — that the accord was imposed on the young Venezuelan republic by bullying imperialists. To back that up, Venezuelans point to a memo from one of Venezuela's arbitration counselors, U.

His colleagues claimed he told them not to read the note until after he died. When they opened it in , they said it revealed Mallet-Prevost did feel Venezuelan had been cheated. A "jumbie" is a sort of bogus ghost story meant to scare people. That is, the Red Scare. President John F.

Kennedy did visit Caracas in — and recently declassified memos indicate his administration did urge Venezuela to ramp up its demand for the Esequibo. British Guiana was moving toward independence from Britain, but the U. So, shortly before Guyana became independent in , it agreed to let the United Nations host periodic discussions with Venezuela about the border settlement. But why, five decades later, has Venezuela suddenly become so aggressive about demanding three-quarters of a neighboring country?

Now, he said, Venezuela was also being cheated out of oil wealth in Guyana. Maduro even started rattling sabers, using his navy to harass Guyanese and ExxonMobil ships — and Guyanese fishing boats earlier this year.