Maduro vote to claim Guyana's territory backfires as Venezuelans stay home

[Eugene]

Earlier DU threads:
• Venezuelans approve a referendum to claim sovereignty over a swathe of neighboring Guyana
• Venezuela referendum result: voters back bid to claim sovereignty over large swath of Guyana

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Source: The Guardian

Maduro vote to claim Guyana’s territory backfires as Venezuelans stay home

Turnout was minimal in vote on referendum intended to rubber-stamp Venezuela’s claim to Essequibo region

Luke Taylor in Bogotá
Mon 4 Dec 2023 19.57 GMT
Last modified on Mon 4 Dec 2023 22.14 GMT

The government of Guyana has breathed a sigh of relief after a referendum intended to rubber-stamp Venezuela’s claim to about two-thirds of the tiny South American country’s territory appeared to have backfired.

Nicolás Maduro had hoped to leverage his country’s century-long claim to the disputed Essequibo region to mobilise public support but voting stations across the country were largely quiet on Sunday as most voters shunned the issue.

The turnout appeared so underwhelming that the Venezuelan government has been widely accused by analysts of falsifying the results.

“The Venezuelan people have sent Maduro a very strong message and I do hope that Maduro has taken note of what they’ve said,” said Robert Presaud, Guyana’s foreign secretary, on Monday.

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Read more: https://archive.is/TZxS5

Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/04/maduro-venezuela-guyana-essequibo-referendum-vote-turnout