Venezuela and the territorial dispute over the Essequibo: Or, how a government uses mass manipulation to deflect attention

I begin by making it clear that what you are about to read is my point of view. Yes, it is an opinion, but at the same time it is not based on the most absolute vacuum. Rather, it is also a reflection of the reality in Venezuela. So, therefore, it is the latest chapter in a long-running territorial dispute between two states; Venezuela and Guyana. How, historically, we have not cared about this "lost" territory, and above all; how conveniently administered this historical claim is, by the politicians who have been running Venezuela for the last 25 years....

If you are a leftist, and you think you know a lot because you see and read things, but you are outside of Venezuela... I urge you to leave this post immediately. You are going to be upset and above all, you are going to react in the most alienated way that could be expected. These lines are written by a Venezuelan, someone who was born and still resides in this place; and above all who has followed the international policies of the various administrations of the Chavista government that exercises all spheres of political, administrative and judicial power in Venezuela.

And no, I am not anti-patriotic for stating what you will not normally see anywhere else. Just as not all Jews aspire to the total systematic extermination of the Palestinian people, and condemn the secessionist war between the Zionist state and the increasingly deliberately divided Palestinian authority, I believe it is time to apply logic to this territorial "conflict" in a country, which since the 19th century, has cared little or nothing about the territory now known as Esequibo...

You see, what is it that Venezuela claims from Guyana? Quite simply, all the territory that lies to the west of the latter country. Because yes, Guyana has its own territory, which it has been administering and executing with independence and freedom for more than 50 years when it obtained these gains from the United Kingdom. The various governments that have exercised public powers in Venezuela have "fought" against this usurpation. The problem is that in terms of legal arguments and conflict resolution, Venezuela has not been able to win anything at all. Why?

The reason is very simple, although nobody wants to admit it.... Nobody has really cared. For those who don't know, Venezuela is a strange country. What do I mean? Its population is located, with a demographic majority, in only 5 cities. By this I mean, the east of the oil country is almost empty. That is to say, Ciudad Guayana, which is the largest city in the entire eastern part of the country, currently has no more than two million people living there. And Guyana, on the other hand, has exercised de facto control of the disputed territory, as it is known in the country of the 8 stars....

So, in this way, for centuries the whole dispute has been going on. And yes, I repeat, for centuries it has been like this.... The whole thing has been fanned by new and always manipulable reasons... Firstly, the discovery by private oil companies of hydrocarbons in the Atlantic zone currently controlled by Guyana but which Venezuela, as I have been saying, "claims".... This fact, added to the proliferation of conflicts in the Middle East and the rise of oil in recent years, has made the Chavista government, which has been in power for 25 years, want to unite its population using the "patriotic" argument.

Truth is that it (Venezuela's national government) is diverting attention from two issues, which nobody is talking about. Not even in @deepdives or almost anywhere else. What reasons? The impending conviction by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity committed by the current government against innocent civilians from 2014 to 2021.... Disappeared people, political prisoners, torture, massacres and above all a systematic campaign of terror to instil in the population a sense of total yoke. In short, a textbook Orwellian move...

Numerous articles in the press make it all very clear. The prosecutors investigating the multiple denunciations of acts that affect basic human rights by the Venezuelan government, added to the constant political disqualifications of the opposition and the deep institutional, economic and social crisis in the country with the largest proven oil reserves, generate a perfect environment to proliferate the sadistic, manipulative and militaristic idea of wanting to unite a whole country in the cause of the homeland.

I am not lying to you. Even the opposition parties, who denounced Maduro and his ilk to the International Criminal Court, have joined together in a united front to support the upcoming consultative referendum that all Venezuelans must answer in December on the question of the Essequibo. For centuries, no administration cared about that place, now that it is useful to dominate the political and communicational agenda, added to the incipient and obvious total corruption of politics in Venezuela, give rise to this potentially dangerous scenario. Because let us not forget how autocratic governments have historically acted.

We have seen the experience in Chile, Argentina, Peru and Central America... Have we learned the lesson about "uniting" a country through force majeure? Absolutely not. And it is my duty, as a journalist and above all, as a Venezuelan, to shed light on the truth. Or at least, to its closest approximation. This does not favour or respond to Guyana's interests, but is a demonstration of a deeper reality. It is a use of logic, reasoning and a display of the spirit of this community. Which, in theory, promotes this type of research that you are not going to see in the mainstream media. Manipulation, dirty politics and diversion from what's important; that's what this is all about....