Tag: Guyana

World Court opens hearings on Essequibo dispute

EssequiboThe International Court of Justice opened oral hearings on the merits of a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region, with Guyana asking the court to declare that Venezuela has no legitimate claim to the oil-rich territory that constitutes some two-thirds of Guyana's landmass. Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who assumed the role after the US military operation that led to Nicolas  Maduro's capture earlier this year, stated in August 2025 that Venezuela would ignore the ICJ's final ruling. (Map: Google)

Cross-border crackdown on Amazon gold mining

IBAMAPolice and prosecutors from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname announced the arrest of nearly 200 individuals in a transnational operation to combat illegal gold mining in the Amazon. Backed by Interpol, the European Union, and Dutch police specializing in environmental crime, "Operation Guyana Shield" involved over 24,500 checks on people and vehicles across remote border areas. Officers seized large quantities of cash, unprocessed gold, and mercury, as well as firearms, drugs and mining equipment. Authorities said organized crime networks behind these operations are linked to a major Guyanese gold exporting firm. The operation signals a new enforcement posture, marked by cross-border collaboration to disrupt transnational networks that evade jurisdictional boundaries and exploit enforcement gaps across the Amazon border region. (Photo: IBAMA via Flickr)

Podcast: geopolitics of the Essequibo dispute

EssequiboIn Episode 205 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg looks at the recent re-escalation and (hopefully) denouement of the dispute over Esequibo—an oil-rich territory controlled by Guyana and claimed by Venezuela. Ironically, this claim was first asserted by the conservative, anti-communist Venezuela of the 1960s to help destabilize the anti-imperialist Guyana of Cheddi Jagan. Today, the left-populist but increasingly nationalistic regime of Nicolás Maduro even entertains hubristic claims to sovereignty over Venezuela's other much larger neighbor, Colombia. But this revanchism appears to mask the fact that "revolutionary" Venezuela largely remains a petro-state with a rentier economy, vulnerable to drops in the global oil price, even if Chinese corporate exploiters have been replacing gringo ones. With the recent easing of sanctions, US giants like Chevron have even returned to Venezuela—while the extractivist model results in indigenous resistance. Contrary to the dogmas of left and right alike, the real root of the Venezuelan crisis is that the country is insufficiently socialist. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Map: SurinameCentral via Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon
Pachamama

‘Dubia Cardinal’ rages against Pachamama

DamascusThe UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria (COI) announced that it completed an in-country mission to Damascus as it prepares to brief the Council in Geneva. The commissioners said they were encouraged by the growth of Syrian civil society organizations, including groups returning from exile. Still, they noted continued barriers and fears, and urged conditions that would allow civil society to operate "without restriction.” There remain legal questions about whether and to what degree authorities will tolerate independent documentation, advocacy, and victim participation, which are needed elements for credible truth-seeking, reparations design, and institutional vetting. (Image: Damascus protest against Israeli intervention in Syria. Credit: The Syria Campaign via Facebook)

The Caribbean
Esequibo

Venezuela revives claim to Guyana territory

PresidenciaPeru's Congress voted unanimously to remove President Dina Boluarte from office for "moral incapacity," replacing her with congressional leader José Jerí. Once in office, Jerí quickly appointed as head of the Interior Ministry the former commander of the Peruvian National Police (PNP), Vicente Tiburcio Orbezo. Tiburcio has had a long career fighting organized crime and armed insurgents, having been part of the team within the PNP's Special Intelligence Group (GEIN) that carried out the arrest of Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán in 1992. He subsequently served in campaigns against both the Shining Path and Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). He was chosen by Jerí with a mission of addressing the crisis of "citizen security" in Peru. (Photo: Wikipedia)

The Amazon

Bolsonaro to The Hague?

KushaybThe International Criminal Court (ICC)  convicted Ali Kushayb, a former Sudanese militia chief, on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in massacres and atrocities in Darfur region in 2003 and 2004. Guilty verdicts included for the war crimes of torture, murder and rape, as well as multiple crimes against humanity, including forcible population transfers. The ICC Trial Chamber found that Kushayb, as a senior commander in the Janjaweed militia, led a campaign of atrocities during the Darfur conflict, with witnesses describing razed villages, mass executions, and gang rapes used as a weapon of war. Sentencing will take place at a later date, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. (Photo via Radio Dabanga)

The Amazon

Amazon mega-dams: ‘hydrological experiment’?

A new report counts 412 hydro-electric dams to be built across the Amazon basin and its headwaters, portending the "end of free-flowing rivers" and potential "ecosystem collapse."