Venezuelans vote in referendum to claim sovereignty in dispute with Guyana

Guyana considers the referendum a step toward annexation, and the vote has its residents on edge. It asks Venezuelans whether they support establishing a state in the disputed territory, known as Essequibo, granting citizenship to current and future area residents and rejecting the jurisdiction of the United Nations' top court in settling the disagreement between the two South American countries.

"We are solving through constitutional, peaceful and democratic means an imperial dispossession of 150 years," Maduro said after voting in a military complex in Caracas, the capital. He and other government officials have not explained the exact steps they will take to enforce the referendum's results.

Less than two hours before polls were originally scheduled to close, turnout appeared to be low at voting centers in Caracas. Long lines typical of electoral events did not form outside the centers, but the country's top electoral authority, Elvis Amoroso, announced polls would remain open for two additional hours, and he claimed, without giving numbers, "massive participation" in the referendum.

The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana's control over Essequibo, but the judges did not specifically ban officials from carrying out Sunday's five-question referendum. Guyana had asked the court to order Venezuela to halt parts of the vote.

Although the practical and legal implications of the referendum remain unclear, in comments explaining Friday's verdict, international court president Joan E. Donoghue said statements from Venezuela's government suggest it "is taking steps with a view toward acquiring control over and administering the territory in dispute."

"Furthermore, Venezuelan military officials announced that Venezuela is taking concrete measures to build an airstrip to serve as a 'logistical support point for the integral development of the Essequibo,'" she said.

The 61,600-square-mile (159,500-square-kilometer) territory accounts for two-thirds of Guyana and also borders Brazil, whose Defense Ministry earlier this week in a statement said it has "intensified its defense actions" and boosted its military presence in the region as a result of the dispute.

Essequibo is larger than Greece and rich in minerals. It also gives access to an area of the Atlantic where energy giant ExxonMobil discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2015, drawing the attention of Maduro's government.

Venezuela's government promoted the referendum for weeks, framing participation as an act of patriotism and often conflating it with a show of support for Maduro.

Venezuela has always considered Essequibo as its own because the region was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and it has long disputed the border decided by international arbitrators in 1899 when Guyana was still a British colony.

That boundary was decided by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States. The U.S. represented Venezuela on the panel in part because the Venezuelan government had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain.

Venezuelan officials contend that Americans and Europeans conspired to cheat their country out of the land and argue that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration.

Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, maintains the initial accord is legal and binding and asked the International Court of Justice in 2018 to rule it as such, but a decision is years away.

Voters on Sunday have to answer whether they "agree to reject by all means, in accordance with the law," the 1899 boundary and whether they support the 1966 agreement "as the only valid legal instrument" to reach a solution.

"I came to vote because Essequibo is ours, and I hope that whatever they are going to do, they think about it thoroughly and remember to never put peace at risk," merchant Juan Carlos Rodríguez, 37, said after voting at a center in Caracas where only a handful of people were in line.

The referendum was proposed by the country's National Assembly, approved by the National Electoral Council and cleared by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, all controlled by Maduro loyalists.

Maduro has thrown the full weight of his government into the effort, turning the referendum into the dominant topic across all state-owned media.

Essequibo-themed music, nationally televised history lessons, murals, rallies and social media content have helped the government to divert people's attention from pressing matters, including increasing pressure from the U.S. government on Maduro to release political prisoners and wrongfully detained Americans as well as to guarantee free and fair conditions in next year's presidential election.

In a tour of Caracas voting centers by The Associated Press, lines of about 30 people could be seen at some of them, while at others, voters did not have to wait at all to cast their ballots. That contrasts with other electoral processes when hundreds of people gathered outside voting centers from the start.

Venezuelans hold as self-evident truth that their homeland's eastern end includes the Essequibo region. They learn about the territorial dispute from a young age, with textbooks including the historical background and maps marking the territory with diagonal lines.

Administrative assistant Henghel Niño, 45, remembers those lessons. Outside a voting center in Caracas, she said she participated in the referendum because Venezuelans "must defend our Essequibo." But like many other voters, she was not clear about the actions that could result from the referendum's results.

"I imagine that the use of weapons would be the last alternative," she said.

Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Sunday sought to reassure Guyanese anxious over the referendum, telling them they have "nothing to fear over the next number of hours, days, months ahead." He said Guyana is using diplomacy as its "first line of defense" and is working continuously to ensure its borders "remain intact."

"... I want to advise Venezuela that this is an opportunity for them to show maturity, an opportunity for them to show responsibility, and we call upon them once more join us in ... allowing the rule of law to work and to determine the outcome of this controversy," Ali said.

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Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press photographer Matias Delacroix contributed to this report. Ronnie J. Willis is a staff reporter for The Navigator.