A “nationalist movement” is how Director of Energy at Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) Arthur Deakin characterized Venezuela’s national referendum on the Guyana border controversy.
The referendum was approved unanimously back in September by Venezuela’s house to decide what action to take regarding their claim on the Essequibo region.
But then on October 23, the Guyana government revealed that the referendum included five questions; the fifth it said, “brazenly seeks the approval of the Venezuelan people for the creation of a new Venezuelan State consisting of Guyana’s Essequibo Region, which would be incorporated into the national territory of Venezuela, and the granting of Venezuelan citizenship to the population.”
But Deakin implied that the move is mere noise for the Venezuelan people.
Deakin told OilNOW, “I see it more than anything as a nationalist movement within the Venezuelan government, that gets the population riled up and gets the population united.”
The referendum comes as Maduro prepared to go up against former legislator María Corina Machado in a high stakes presidential election. Machado was recently voted in as the candidate to end Maduro’s decade-long, crisis-ridden presidency.
The upcoming presidential election is anticipated to take place in the latter half of 2024. President Maduro aims to secure a presidential extension that would stretch his rule until 2030, surpassing the duration during which his mentor, Hugo Chávez, governed and implemented his self-proclaimed socialist policies.
