John J. Metzler
Venezuela’s ruling Marxists are using some time-honored tricks to give their economically battered regime an edge for next year’s presidential elections. In a classic political mobilization tactic, President Nicolas Maduro held a “referendum” to ask his citizens what the future status should be for a mineral-rich but disputed region of a neighboring country, namely Guyana.
The vast Essequibo region has long been contested between Venezuela and Guyana, former British Guiana, a sovereign enclave on the shoulder of South America. The region is 61,000 square miles, or approximately the size of Florida. The area, in which the Essequibo River forms a boundary, comprises most of Guyana’s current national territory.
Maduro’s move is a calculated plan to stir up historic animosity, to kindle Bolivarian patriotism and to possibly create the political conditions to annex a sovereign territory that, though thinly populated, remains rich in minerals and also includes valuable offshore oil deposits.
The Venezuelan referendum asked voters for their Approval for granting Essequibo residents Venezuelan citizenship, creating a new Venezuelan state, and whether Venezuelan voters recognize the........