The Wall Street Journal ran a major report Friday detailing preparations being made by the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela to launch a war on the tiny neighboring nation of Guyana. Maduro has been massing troops and hardware along Guyana’s western border adjacent to the Essequibo region that is in dispute.
This dispute dates back to the late 19th century, when Essequibo was first declared to be a part of the formerly French territory of Guyana. It is a declaration Venezuela has attempted to reverse in various international venues several times over the past 120 years, but has always been rejected.
Now, with the ExxonMobil-led consortium that includes Hess (soon to become Chevron) and CNOOC turning the prolific offshore Stabroek block into a major oil province, Maduro has apparently decided to grab the portion of that block that lies adjacent to Essequibo.
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