IF Nicolas Maduro thought that raising the almost 125-year-old fabled ghost of possibly taking over the Essequibo Region from Guyana in 2023 would have brightened his 2024 presidential election prospects, he’s certainly got many rude awakenings since Sunday’s failed referendum.
As explained to the BBC, on Monday, by Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo, the exercise did not yield what the Venezuela President expected, with less than half the total number of eligible voters worrying to go to the polls and even then, not all voted as expected by their government.

As VP Jagdeo also pointed out, there was such a low voter-turnout during the day that the election was extended for hours — into the darkness of night — after which fantastic results were returned, with President Maduro even suggesting future national elections might also include casting ballots in the dark.
The Vice-President – a former Finance Minister and President of Guyana — set the facts and figures straight regarding what the Latin American press reported about “low voter turnout” all day long and the “unbelievable” results announced after the unscheduled extension.

While the ruling People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) General Secretary held fort at the COP 28 conference in Dubai, so did Executive President Dr Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister Brigadier General (Ret’d) Mark Philips, both making it very clear that while Guyana does not want war, it will not just lie down and allow Venezuela to roll over even a single blade of Guyana grass.
President Maduro’s adventurous vision of making Essequibo a Venezuelan state and forcing Guyanese in the region to adopt foreign citizenship is what colonial powers did back in time, but not anymore.

But this stated intent has only naturally backfired into an explosion of Guyanese patriotism that’s given more life than ever today to Dave Martins and the Tradewinds’ exceptional national musical defence anthem “Not a Blade of Grass,” being sung and played with vigor and vitality from coast to coast, from highlands and hinterlands to the Essequibo islands.
Guyana’s security is in good hands, with a President and Commander in Chief who has shown his mettle, a Prime Minister with a world of military experience and a Vice-President who has been twice Commander in Chief.

President Maduro holds on to his impossible fantasy dream of changing Guyana’s map, reducing its size by two-thirds, taking over its Essequibo oil and gas resources and turning the Co-operative Republic’s Region Two into Venezuela’s 24th state.
But Guyana has the full support of all its CARICOM partners, continues to strengthen military co-operation with Brazil and the US — and Washington insists it would like to see a peaceful settlement according to rules of law.

Venezuela is not about to go to war with the USA over the presence of American companies in Guyana’s waters, as it’s already deeply engaged in a sensitive agreement with the Biden administration for Venezuela to help the US overcome its energy shortages after the Ukraine war.
Presidential elections are scheduled in Venezuela at any time of President Maduro’s liking in 2024, to choose a president for a six-year term beginning January 10, 2025.
It would probably not be wrong to assume that President Maduro’s stance on revival of the shadowy scarecrow of a Venezuelan Essequibo is more about elections than war.