Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday directed the country’s state-owned companies to “immediately” begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana’s Essequibo region, a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Venezuela claims as its own.
The announcement came a day a day after Maduro got the victory he sought in a weekend referendum on whether to claim sovereignty over the region.
Maduro said he would “immediately” proceed “to grant operating licenses for the exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and mines in the entire area of our Essequibo.” He also ordered the creation of local subsidiaries of Venezuelan public companies, including oil giant PDVSA and mining conglomerate Corporación Venezolana de Guayana.
I wouldn’t accuse the UN of being tankie, but it does have internal rule structures that it has to abide by, including that Russia has a veto to any UN resolution.
Which is likely why the USA might rely on OAS instead to provide the justification for war and use a coalition of American militaries to push Venezuela out. There is massive self interest in the Americas to keep borders frozen and Guyana is a post-colonial nation, so it isn’t like the Falklands.