Guyana's army chief says Venezuelans participating in Essequibo vote risk arrest

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana's defense chief warned on Wednesday that any residents who participate in upcoming elections organized by neighboring Venezuela over a disputed region will be charged with treason and other felony crimes.

“If anyone participates or takes any similar action, it will amount to support for a passive coup,” Brig. Gen. Omar Khan told The Associated Press. “Anything along those lines will speak to a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The May 25 election organized by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is the latest step in a push to annex the Essequibo region, which Venezuela has long claimed as its own.

Venezuelans living in Guyana who become involved in Sunday’s elections could also face arrest and deportation, Khan added.

Nearly 100,000 people of direct or indirect Venezuelan ancestry currently live in Guyana, according to Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud.

“Shouldn’t this reality give all Guyanese a cause to be alert? People’s vigilance is equivalent to people’s power and defense,” Persaud said in a recent social media post.

The Essequibo region represents two-thirds of Guyana and is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources. It also is located close to massive offshore oil deposits, with current production averaging some 650,000 barrels daily.

On Sunday, Venezuelans will head to the polls to elect governors and lawmakers, as well as officials who would supposedly administer the Essequibo region.

In 2023, Maduro threatened to annex the region by force after holding a referendum asking voters if Essequibo should be turned into a Venezuelan state.

The dispute over the region began more than a century ago, when an international tribunal in 1899 drew the border between the South American neighbors.

In 2018, Guyana went to the International Court of Justice and asked judges to uphold the 1899 ruling. Meanwhile, Venezuela has dismissed the border drawn more than a century ago, noting Guyana was still a British colony. It has argued that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration.

The case is still pending in court while tensions between the two countries keep rising despite an emergency summit held in late 2023 to diffuse the situation.

Last week, Guyana’s government reported three separate attacks from the Venezuelan side on Guyanese soldiers patrolling a border river. Earlier this year, six Guyanese soldiers were injured in a separate attack, some of them seriously.

U.S. Ambassador Nicole Theriot has dismissed Maduro’s threats as “just bluster aimed at shoring up domestic support.”

“Everyone should see the sham for what it is. It’s saber-rattling from the Maduro regime, nothing more,” she said at a public forum Tuesday, stressing that the U.S. stands with Guyana.