IS VENEZUELIZATION OF GUYANA IN THE OFFING?

What happens if Maduro goes for the broke and decides to invade Guyana to occupy and annex Essequibo?

- A. ADITYANJEE

What happens if Maduro goes for the broke and decides to invade Guyana to occupy and annex Essequibo?

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”, so said a famous English lexicographer, Dr Samuel Johnson in 1775. A deeply flawed politician, in a deeply flawed election in a deeply dysfunctional country claimed to have won the presidential elections with the help of institutionalised rigging. The international community questioned the authenticity of the elections. Now that a deeply flawed politician is facing another presidential election in the year 2024, aware that he is facing huge unpopularity, he is taking recourse to the time-tested route. That aphorism by Dr Samuel Johnson seems to be true for Nicolas Maduro, the dictator cum president of Venezuela.

Having won two presidential terms earlier in disputed and rigged elections that were highly questioned by international observers, Nicolas Maduro is facing elections again in 2024. He is deeply unpopular in Venezuela. Since 2015, seven million Venezuelans have left the country out of a total population of 28 million. The only issue on which Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition agree is the annexation of Essequibo province of Guyana. By invoking jingoistic fervour and nationalistic passions in Venezuela, Maduro is trying to win the third term that otherwise would be elusive. Hence, the timing of the sham referendum in Venezuela on 3 December 2023. It was a tactical move by Maduro to improve his winnability in the 2024 elections. The Maduro government claims that 95% of the Venezuelan people voted for the referendum, but international observers question the results and the level of participation.