Venezuela’s Putin-ally president Nicolas Maduro has been threatening to upset the South American applecart by grabbing the oil-rich Essequibo, encompassing two thirds of the landmass of Guyana. It has been disputed territory since the old Spanish-British colonial days but only became heated recently since Guyana unearthed crude oil deposits in 2019. ‘Should current trends persist, Guyana is poised to emerge as one of the foremost per capita oil producers worldwide by 2030. This discovery constitutes the most substantial addition to global oil reserves since the 1970s, bringing a shift in dynamics of the international energy landscape.’
Not only is Maduro hungry for money, he is also in danger of losing the next election for the first time in years and may reckon an external enemy will mobilise domestic public opinion around him.
As of yesterday there appears to have been an agreement between Venezuela and Guyana that neither will use force in the dispute, though Maduro has form for reneging on his word. Joe Biden appears eager for a confrontation with Venezuela but in doing so he is potentially setting the stage for another proxy war with Russia.
Nicolas Maduro first took over as president on 19 April 2013 and this last term started 9 January 2019. Both charts look highly unsettled and trapped this year and his initial presidency chart may well grind to a halt in 2024 when the next election is due.
His own personal chart 23 November 1962 9.03pm Caracas, looks extremely insecure exactly now till mid March 2024 which may well tempt him into taking desperate measures to prop up his position.
Guyana took independence on 20 May 1966 and looks rattled through this year and the next two with tr Saturn square the Gemini Sun early in 2024 and then opposing the Uranus Pluto. By mid 2024 tr Uranus will collide with the Mars/Neptune midpoint and by 2025 will conjunct the Mars – it could be an explosive and unsettling phase.
The Venezuela/Guyana relationship chart hints at long drawn out aggravation stretching through into 2026.
Marjorie,
thank you so much for writing about this. I just saw this posting and read it immediately.
I agree with your observations about Nicholas Maduro. He appears to be only a Socialist in name only….yet…he happily aligns himself with nations like Iran and the Russian Federation and he restorts to autocratic behaviors when he thinks his power might be in jeopardy.
As for President Biden, I honestly don’t think Biden wants a confrontation with Venezuela. There really isn’t an appetite for another conflict or war here in the U.S. and President Biden already has his hands tied with assisting Ukraine (which most Americans, myself included, support) and now Israel (which most Americans are not exactly in support of due to Bibi’s genocidal antics in Gaza).
The Biden Administration has expressed full support for Guyana…but since Guyana barely has a military, I imagine the most that could be done to help would be to issue more sanctions on Venezuela if an invasion did occur.
Luckily, it looks this troubling dispute won’t be escalating into an armed conflict anytime soon…but I do believe the astrology when it suggests the tensions will remain in place for the forseeable future.
Hopefully, Nicolas Maduro will be ousted next year. Keeping fingers crossed.
It is really hard to get unbiased news on this one Marjorie. Some news sites are so pro-West and so many are pro-Latin America and some are so West and fossil fuel corporate aversive . What I could find was that Maduro has cast some sort of democratic vote to the Venezuelan people and they voted by 10 million to challenge something in Guyana borders. American petrol companies are involved and USA is staging some sort of military drills. So oil and money and borders on sea and land are suddenly important on a bit of land that nobody cared about before. There seems to have been a shared ownership and responsibility for those lands historically between Guyana and Venezuela, so neither country is being untrue in its claims. It seems Guyana is also a French colony bringing in the French and EU to add to the ownership of oil complexity. The Venezuelans seem a socialist lot and don’t have any history of invading countries but their socialism takes them to hard stands for what is fair and they can’t be beaten down with sticks. It is interesting. I must say, of all of it, I can’t understand how one minute/advert on TV we are on “climate change!” and the next we are looking for and digging up more oil for cars or ‘Buy more at 40% less for Black Friday’. Can you make any sense of this Marjorie!
Not sure that anything Maduro does is exactly democratic. If you read his wiki entry it is fairly hair raising. Would hardly describe him as socialist.
Wiik: Maduro has been described as an autocrat and a dictator.[c][19][20] Between 2013 and 2023, Venezuela dropped 42 places in the Press Freedom Index.[21] According to estimations by the United Nations (UN) and Human Rights Watch, under Maduro’s administration, more than 20,000 people have been subject to extrajudicial killings and seven million Venezuelans have been forced to flee the country.[22][23][24] The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela concluded that the country’s justice system independence has been deeply eroded; the mission also identified frequent due process violations, including political external interference and the admission of evidence through torture.[25][26][27] Most Venezuelan television channels are controlled by the state, and information unfavorable to the government is not covered completely.[28] In 2018, a Board of Independent Experts designated by the Organization of American States (OAS) found that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela during Maduro’s presidency,[29] and in 2021 the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the opening of an investigation regarding the situation in the country
Yasamin – Guyana was a colony of the UK given independence in 1966, Suriname to the east was formerly “Dutch Guiana” and further to the east you’ll French Guiana which is still an overseas department of France.
So I’m not sure how, despite your assertions, the French or EU fit into the picture?