VENEZUELA’S “desperation and fakeness” was called out by governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who rejected the regime’s circulation of a misleading video claiming that there were elections in Guyana’s Essequibo Region.

During a press conference on Thursday at Freedom House, Robb Street, Dr. Jagdeo said: “Those elections were a failure by any standard.”

In an attempt to deliberately spread misinformation, Venezuela’s Vice-President, Delcy Rodríguez was among those who circulated a misleading video falsely claiming that people were crossing the Essequibo River to participate in the illegal process.

However, in reality, the footage showed passengers boarding a boat in Georgetown, en route to Vreed-en-Hoop, with the recognisable Stabroek Market clearly visible in the background.

This appeared to be another attempt by Venezuela to use misinformation to incite fear among the Guyanese population, and undermine the country’s sovereignty.

“Nobody crossed; it’s a rejection. Nobody wants to be part of Venezuela,” Dr. Jagdeo said, adding:

“The people of Guyana, they know, instinctively, genetically, that every bit of the 83,000 square miles of our territory belongs to us.”

He also conveyed his pride in those Guyanese citizens, especially in border communities, for upholding Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Jagdeo used the opportunity to lambast the parliamentary opposition for refusing to back a recent motion aimed at reaffirming the country’s sovereignty over its internationally recognised territory.

Guyana’s territorial sovereignty remains unshaken, as residents in border communities reported no indication of Venezuela’s sham elections, which the Bolivarian Republic had said would be used to elect a governor and legislative council for Guyana’s Essequibo region.

The 1899 Award was the culmination of arbitral proceedings during which the respective territorial claims of Great Britain and Venezuela were addressed at great length and in detail by distinguished legal counsel representing the two states.

For more than six decades, Venezuela treated the Award as a final settlement of the matter. The Spanish-speaking nation then reversed its position, asserting a claim to the Essequibo region, which accounts for two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is rich in natural resources.

Guyana has since approached the World Court for a final settlement to the ongoing border controversy.