The United States government is inserting itself into a border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana on behalf of ExxonMobil. The oil-rich Essequibo region has the world’s biggest reserves per capita of crude oil and in May of this year, a “significant discovery” by ExxonMobil was announced in the area’s 6.6-million acre Staborek Block oil field.

In a December 3rd referendum, 10.4 million Venezuelans voted overwhelmingly to keep the US out of the disagreement and to continue to handle the dispute under the 1966 Geneva Agreement.

The US State Department is dismissing the referendum results and while spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US wants a “peaceful resolution,” Secretary of State Blinken has put forward that the US totally backs Guyana and that the region 61,600 square mile area is fully Guyanese.

To get into the history of Essequibo and help us understand what’s happening in the context of decades of US imperialist actions against Venezuela, we’re joined by Gloria La Riva of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee.

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