The fact that Venezuelans are voting in a referendum on Sunday has increased tensions between the South American nation and Guyana, its neighbor.
The Venezuelan government has organized the referendum to gauge public support for its historical claim to a disputed area of jungle that is currently governed by Guyana and is rich in oil.
The 159,500-sq-km (61,600-square-mile) district is known as Essequibo and makes up 66% of the absolute of the land presently constrained by Guyana. It is home to 125,000 of Guyana's 800,000 residents.
Map of Venezuela's disputed claim to Guatemala The dispute over the region has been raging for more than a century.
In 1899, a worldwide arbitral court granted the region to England, which at the time was the pilgrim power administering over Guyana, or English Guiana, as it was then known.
Guyana: Facts about Capital: Georgetown
Region: 214,970 square kilometers 795,400
Dialects: English, Guyanese Creole, and additional languages) Irfaan Ali However, over the course of the past sixty years, a number of Venezuelan governments have criticized this decision as unfair.
The Geneva Agreement, signed in 1966 by Venezuela and Britain, mandated the creation of a commission consisting of Venezuelan and Guyanan members to revisit the territorial dispute. Guyana gained independence from Britain that same year.
However, despite the fact that almost six decades have passed, nothing has changed.
The question erupted in 2015, after US monster ExxonMobil found oil in Essequibo's seaward waters.
In 2018, Guyana took the case to the Worldwide Courtroom (ICJ), subsequent to being given the go-ahead by the Secretary-General of the Assembled Countries.
One of the primary responsibilities of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has its headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, is to resolve legal disputes between states.
The ICJ's decision-making process can take years, and in most cases, the first step is to determine whether it has jurisdiction, or the legal authority to rule on a particular dispute.
In 2020, the ICJ decided that it had purview to hear the question yet it still can't seem to settle on the benefits of the case, meaning whether the 1899 arbitral honor giving the Essequibo to Guyana stands.
Venezuela has not acknowledged that the ICJ has ward but rather has so far kept on going to the trials'.
When the Guyana government held an auction in September of this year for oil companies to bid on exploration licenses in Essequibo waters, tensions rose even more.
The Venezuelan government is under more pressure as a result of this move and another "significant" oil discovery in those waters just over a month ago.
Despite having the world's largest proven oil reserves, the United States imposed severe sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry in 2019.
The Venezuelan government, which has been driven by President Nicolás Maduro starting around 2013, is likewise compelled to permit free and fair decisions in 2024.
The US as of late facilitated the assents it had forced on Venezuela's oil industry in return for the public authority lifting a prohibition on the principal resistance competitor, María Corina Machado.
Previous agent Maria Corina Machado offers proclamations to writers in Caracas, Venezuela 24 October 2023.
María Corina Machado won the resistance essential by a surprising margin however is restricted from campaigning for office
Nonetheless, the restriction on Ms Machado campaigning for office at present actually stays set up.
The Essequibo referendum, according to many analysts, was President Maduro's tactical response to stir up nationalist fervor and divert attention from calls for free and fair elections.
Guyana has condemned the referendum as an aggressive attempt at "annexation" despite the fact that it is only consultative in nature and will not have any legal weight outside of Venezuela.
Venezuelan citizens are being approached to give a "Yes" or "No" reply to five inquiries.
The initial two essentially find out if Venezuelans support the nation's case over the Essequibo locale in light of the Venezuelan contentions - the supposed weakness of the 1899 arbitral honor and the legitimacy of the 1966 Geneva Understanding.
In the third question, voters are asked if they concur with the Maduro administration's refusal to acknowledge that the ICJ has jurisdiction over the case.
This is a contentious issue because many observers and leaders of the Venezuelan opposition believe that ignoring the ICJ damages Venezuela's position.
The fourth question asks if Venezuelans "agree to oppose by all means in accordance with the law" Guyana's "unilateral" use of the sea waters off Essequibo, referring to the fact that Guyana issues oil licenses for this offshore area.
In the 23 de Enero neighborhood of Caracas, on November 28, 2023, people pass a mural advocating for a referendum asking Venezuelans to consider annexing the Guyana-administered region of Essequibo.
Spray painting supporting Venezuela's case embellishes the walls of an area in Caracas
Pundits have scrutinized the utilization of "definitely" in this inquiry, contemplating whether this could incorporate military power.
The language in the fifth question, which asks for approval for "the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state" and its "incorporation into the map of Venezuelan territory," is particularly opposed by Guyana, which claims that this amounts to the effective "annexation" of territory it currently administers.
A few eyewitnesses are worried about what the Maduro government intends to do if - which most would consider to be normal - the consequence of the mandate shows more than adequate sponsorship for the five inquiries.
They talk about plans that the armed forces of Venezuela have said they will build an airstrip close to where Guyana and Venezuela currently draw a demarcation line.
Following the success of the primary held by opposition parties in October, which saw the participation of more than 2.4 million people, pro-opposition security expert Roco San Miguel raised the concern that the government was "using" the Essequibo issue.
"Nothing is more strong to redirect consideration than to raise a strong, appealing issue that requests to enthusiastic opinion," Ms San Miguel said.
An individual holds a sign that peruses '5 votes yes for (El Essequibo)' as they take part in a showing on the side of the consultative mandate on El Essequibo in Caracas, Venezuela, 15 November 2023.
The Venezuelan government has been encouraging individuals to cast a ballot "multiple times 'yes'" in the mandate
She cautioned that a portion of the Essequibo mandate questions, whenever embraced in the mandate, could give the Maduro government "crazy power" to try and start an equipped struggle possibly.
Guyana's VP Bharrat Jagdeo has openly cautioned Venezuela that any "forceful demonstrations" would "not be tolerated", adding that his administration had "got" inescapable global help.
In late November, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali went to the Essequibo with military leaders to reassure the people there. He said he was committed to finding a "peaceful" solution to the border dispute.
Venezuela was also told on Friday by the ICJ not to do anything that could actually change the Essequibo situation.
