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☆ Venezuelans to vote in referendum on disputed territory with Guyana
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro shows his ballot during a referendum over Venezuela's rights to the potentially oil-rich region of Esequiba in Guyana, in Caracas, Venezuela, December 3, 2023. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria Acquire Licensing RightsCARACAS/GEORGETOWN, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Venezuelans will vote on Sunday in a referendum backed by President Nicolas Maduro's government over a potentially oil-rich territory that is the subject of a long-running border dispute with Guyana. The five-question referendum includes a question rejecting International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction to decide to which country the territory around the Esequibo river belongs. On Friday, the court responded to a request from Guyana to halt the referendum, ordering Venezuela to refrain from taking any action that would alter the status quo, without expressly forbidding the vote. The Sunday vote has caused anxiety in Guyana, with the government urging citizens to keep calm.

Persons: Nicolas Maduro, Leonardo Fernandez Viloria, Nicolas Maduro's, Maduro, Ricardo Sucre, Benigno Alarcon, Andres, Rocio San, Kim Rampersaud, Vivian Sequera, Julia Symmes Cobb, Will Dunham Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, of Justice, Central University of Venezuela, Center for Political Studies, Andres Bello Catholic University, Kiana, Thomson Locations: Esequiba, Guyana, Caracas, Venezuela, Rights CARACAS, GEORGETOWN, Sucre, Rocio San Miguel, Georgetown, Brazil

The opposition considers the bans unlawful, and Washington has rejected any roadblocks to opposition candidates' race to the presidency. The agreement to be signed on Tuesday would lift all public office bans, one opposition source told Reuters, but its wording is too vague to inspire confidence that Maduro will honor the deal. Four other opposition sources agreed, with one saying the deal was largely negotiated by the United States. "We all have our doubts, but we're exhausting our options," said another opposition source. The U.S., which is expected to loosen some sanctions in recognition of the government-opposition deal, will act only once the deal has been signed, sources told Reuters on Monday.

Persons: Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela Milton Rengifo, Leonardo Fernandez Viloria, Maria Corina Machado, There's, Maduro, What's, Benigno Alarcon, Andres, Alarcon, it's, Marianna Parraga, Mayela, Deisy Buitrago, Julia Symmes Cobb, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Maduro's, United, Andres Bello Catholic University, Mayela Armas, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, Miraflores, Caracas, Rights CARACAS, HOUSTON, Barbados, Washington, United States, U.S, Doha, Houston

Guaido in 2019 won the recognition of scores of nations including the United States after the widely disputed election that kept Nicolas Maduro in power. The removal of the interim government "ended up undermining attachments among opposition leadership," said Piero Trepiccione, of Caracas' Gumilla thinktank. The opposition, many of whose leaders are in exile or barred from politics, has not held a primary for a decade. The United States has said it will continue to recognize the opposition assembly. Changing the presidential election to this year instead of next may also serve Maduro, Nicholas Watson of consulting firm Teneo said in a report.

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