The US and the OAS condemned Venezuela's detention of 12 Guyanese fishermen. Venezuela's Navy detained the fishermen last week in Guyanese waters claimed by Venezuela, in a rapidly heating border dispute, with geostrategic relevance. Venezuela has long claimed a significant chunk of Guyanese territory, but the controversy became more relevant in recent years with the discovery of off-shore oil deposits. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been sabre rattling on the issue of the disputed Essequibo region this month, likely as a nationalist rallying point for a country exhausted by a long-term humanitarian and political crisis. (See last week's
Essequibo dispute heats up (Jan. 28, 2021)
Essequibo dispute heats up (Jan. 28, 2021)
Essequibo dispute heats up (Jan. 28, 2021)
The US and the OAS condemned Venezuela's detention of 12 Guyanese fishermen. Venezuela's Navy detained the fishermen last week in Guyanese waters claimed by Venezuela, in a rapidly heating border dispute, with geostrategic relevance. Venezuela has long claimed a significant chunk of Guyanese territory, but the controversy became more relevant in recent years with the discovery of off-shore oil deposits. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been sabre rattling on the issue of the disputed Essequibo region this month, likely as a nationalist rallying point for a country exhausted by a long-term humanitarian and political crisis. (See last week's