Dec 3 referendum does more harm than good – Venezuela’s presidential frontrunner

– urges Maduro regime to adhere to ICJ’s resolution on border controversy

María Machado, widely considered the presidential frontrunner in Venezuela’s upcoming 2024 electoral race, has publicly denounced the upcoming December 3 referendum and urged the Nicolas Maduro regime to adhere to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) resolution of the border controversy with Guyana.
The Opposition politician, who is a former member of the Venezuelan National Assembly, was recently interviewed by Miami-based online publication Infobae. During that interview, Machado was asked for her thoughts on the December 3 Venezuelan referendum that the Maduro regime is using to get a mandate to illegally annex Essequibo.
Not only did Machado make it clear that the referendum does more harm than good for Venezuela, but she also denounced the Maduro regime’s actions as irresponsible and urged them to focus on preparing a proper defence for its case before the ICJ, where the border controversy awaits a final and binding settlement.
“I’m not going to speculate what they’re looking for. What I can tell you is that this does not help the defence of Essequibo and the territorial integrity of Venezuela. On the contrary, once again, the regime’s irresponsible actions are putting Venezuela’s sovereignty at risk in a territory that is strategic and that belongs to Venezuela,” Machado said.

“We cannot do anything that at this moment would harm our position in the International Court of Justice, whose process is underway. So, what we must all focus on is that the best jurists, expert specialists in this matter, put themselves at the service of the country and not in a propaganda action that will harm us even more,” the politician further told the publication.
Machado’s quest to run as a presidential candidate in the 2024 Venezuelan elections has faced many hurdles from the Maduro regime, in much the same way as other Opposition Venezuelan politicians were blocked by the State from running in previous elections… politicians such as Henrique Capriles and Leopoldo Lopez, both of whom were imprisoned on what many in the international community consider trumped up charges.
In Machado’s case, she has not only been repeatedly attacked by Government supporters but she has been forced to send her children abroad due to threats to their lives. And despite Machado winning more than 92 per cent of a primary election last month, giving her a landslide mandate as Opposition leader, the Venezuelan regime has consistently looked for ways to overturn this.
However, the Maduro regime has already been warned by the United States (US) not to prevent Machado from running in the elections. Speaking in a recent interview with Colombian TV station NTN24, White House Latin America advisor Juan Gonzalez had said that the Maduro regime has until the end of November to fulfil its pledge to allow any opponent, including Machado, to compete in next year’s presidential election.
He had said that otherwise, the Biden Administration would reinstate the recently lifted sanctions on the Venezuelan economy. Further, Gonzalez had said the Biden Administration also expects the Maduro regime to free all political prisoners as well as all Americans jailed unjustly in Venezuela.
Last month, the Venezuelan National Electoral Council published a list of five questions it plans to put before the Venezuelan people in a referendum set for December 3, 2023. One question (#5) proposes the creation of the Venezuelan State of Guyana Essequibo and an accelerated plan for giving Venezuelan citizenship and identity cards to the Guyanese population.
After years of failed good offices process, Guyana approached the World Court in 2018, seeking a final and binding judgement to reinforce that the 1899 Arbitral Award remains valid and binding on all parties, as well as legal affirmation that Guyana’s Essequibo region, which contains much of the country’s natural resources, belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela.
Guyana’s Spanish-speaking neighbour has laid claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass in the Essequibo region, and to a portion of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in which nearly 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered largely by United States oil giant ExxonMobil.
The Maduro regime has accused the Guyana Government of being a puppet of ExxonMobil and the US Southern Command. And Venezuelan President Maduro has called on President Dr Irfaan Ali to abandon the ICJ process and engage in bilateral discussions with Venezuela, mediated by the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
The Guyana Government has, however, already declared its commitment to resolving this longstanding border controversy with Venezuela through the legal process at the World Court. This position was also reaffirmed by Guyana’s National Assembly in a unanimous vote last week.
Over the past few weeks, Guyana has been informing regional and international partners of Venezuela’s planned referendum, which has been criticised by the United States, Caricom, and the Organisation of American States (OAS), as well as several other nations in the Region, including Brazil. There is a consensus that Venezuela’s referendum threatens the peace, security and stability of the Region.