Will there be war between Venezuela and Guyana?
By Eloy Viera Cañive (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – On December 3, 2023, the government of Nicolas Maduro held a non-binding referendum on one of the oldest territorial conflicts in Latin America. The referendum asked whether Venezuelans agree to annex the Essequibo region, controlled for many decades by Guyana and rich in natural resources.
Beyond the details of the conflict and the referendum, what could be most interesting for Cubans is the position of the Diaz-Canel Government in relation to the matter.
The Cuban Government has remained silent, a silence that demonstrates the incoherence of the Communist Party bureaucracy. Especially since the latest reports regarding the dispute between Guyana and Venezuela indicate the real risk in the future —not too distant— of a war between those nations. The war would take place in Latin America, the region that was declared a zone of peace by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) – with the impetus of Chavismo and Castroism.
Some history on Cuba’s stance over the Essequibo issue
The conflict over the Essequibo region has a long history, in which the participation of the Cuban regime has been special, mainly during the Cold War – a period in which Fidel Castro made Cuba the main bastion of the interests of the Soviets and Communism in Latin America.
According to the words of Hugo Chavez at the XX Summit of the Rio Group in March 2008, in the 1980s and 90s the United States intended to use the armed forces of Venezuela to overthrow the Government of the Guyanese socialist Forbes Burnham. Towards that purpose they used what Chavez called —in a display of what many consider a renunciation of the Essequibo— an “old conflict” that they wanted to dust off to justify Venezuela’s aggression and the overthrow of Burnham.
The fact is that in 1981, during the previ
