Nicaragua shows support for Venezuela following referendum

Nicaragua has come out in support of Venezuela, appreciating the Nicholas Maduro led Bolivarian government for conducting a referendum seeking to annex Guyana’s Essequibo region.

The border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela has drawn attention from many nations in the region, as well as international organisations such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. The latter issued a ruling recently, granting Guyana’s request for provisional measures against Venezuela’s advances towards Essequibo.

The mineral rich region has become a bone of contention between both nations as Venezuela proceeded with it plan of conducting a “consultive referendum” despite the ICJ ruling and incessant pressure from the international fraternity to cease its plans.

As a result, Guyana and other nations that have shown solidarity with its cause have had plenty of reasons to be worried. Even though Guyana has made use of every diplomatic channel at its disposal to block Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro continues to work towards acquiring what has been termed as Guyana’s territory according to international law.

Nicaragua entered the picture on Monday, coming out in support of Venezuela’s President Nicholas Maduro. According to sources, Nicaragua has described the referendum as ‘another victory for peace and brotherhood’.

This opinion opposes the established stance that Venezuela is functioning beyond its remit by attempting to annex a region that is a part of Guyana’s territory.

Representatives of Nicaragua said the following in an official statement regarding the matter, “We congratulate you -Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s United Socialist Party and the Venezuelan families for the ratification of these paths of justice and understanding for peace that can do everything, peace that is giant love, encourages and conquers.”

This is a clear case of the formation of regional factions as Guyana clearly has the support of CARICOM nations and the Caribbean region in general. On the other hand, regional players such as Nicaragua are now siding with Venezuela.

It will be interesting to see how either party manages its interests in this dispute as international intervention has seemed to have failed in bringing stability to the situation.