Although, I shouldn’t be surprised. As Barry said, you should never underestimate Joe’s ability to fuck things up. It seems the failed state that is Venezuela is making noises about invading neighboring Guyana. There is a build-up of Venezuelan troops on the frontier between the two countries and Brazil is moving troops north in response.
Before we get to the current developments, a bit of history is in order. Guyana was originally a Dutch colony. They had started settling there in the 16th century. However that was contested by the Spanish and Portuguese. The treaty of Tordesillas saw Spain and Portugal arrogating the rights to all undiscovered/uncolonized lands in the Americas to themselves. While Spain and the Netherlands skirmished over the territories sporadically, nothing came of it until 1814, when the Dutch ceded their interests in Guyana to the Brits.
In 1822, shortly after Simon Bolivar liberated what would become Venezuela and Columbia from the Spanish, he claimed the Essequibo region as part of Gran Columbia. With that claim came a demand that the British leave. As if. Britain was the most powerful nation on earth at the time, and in response they ordered a survey. It should be no surprise that the survey claimed the Brits controlled considerably more territory than previously known.
In the late 1800’s gold was discovered in Essequibo, and with it a renewed claim from Venezuela. It turned into a thing and the US got involved, you know, the Monroe Doctrine and all that. Long story short, after some US brokered arbitration, the Brits got pretty much what they originally claimed.
There were occasional renewals of the Venezuelan claims over Essequibo over the years, but nothing like what’s happening today. Nicholas Maduro, the current Venezuelan strong man, decided he would put annexation of Essequibo to a plebiscite. Guyana appealed to the ICJ looking to derail this vote, but no decision has been handed down as of this writing. I suspect this has to do with the discovery of oil off the coast of Guyana more than any historical claims.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has thrown the full weight of his government into the effort, using patriotic rhetoric to try to summon voters to the polls to answer five questions over the territory, including whether current and future area residents should be granted Venezuelan citizenship. . .
The 61,600-square-mile (159,500-square-kilometer) area accounts for two-thirds of Guyana. Yet, Venezuela has always considered Essequibo as its own because the region was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and it has long disputed the border decided by international arbitrators in 1899, when Guyana was still a British colony.
Venezuela’s commitment to pursue the territorial claim has fluctuated over the years. Its interest piqued again in 2015 when ExxonMobil announced it had found oil in commercial quantities off the Essequibo coast.
AP
This has the potential to turn into a regional war. Not only does Brazil have a mutual defense treaty with Guyana, the road net in that area would require Venezuelan troops to transit Brazilian territory.
What’s next? I am not a Southern Cone expert, and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn last night, so I can’t say for sure. However, I seriously misdoubt that Brazil would allow Maduro to invade Guyana through its territory.