President Nicolás Maduro has commemorated the two-year milestone of Venezuela’s landmark consultative referendum on the disputed Essequibo territory, hailing the 2021 vote as an unprecedented democratic exercise in the nation’s 150-year territorial struggle. Through his Telegram account, Maduro characterized the electoral process as a transformative campaign that revitalized national consciousness through inclusive public engagement and civic education.
The Venezuelan leader emphasized the government’s political courage in submitting such complex geopolitical matters to popular consultation, noting that citizens demonstrated remarkable awareness and preparedness in their response. Maduro declared the Venezuelan people—without partisan distinction—the ultimate victors in the ongoing territorial claim, framing the referendum as a constitutional mechanism that enabled citizens to reclaim the legacy of their liberators.
Concurrently, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil utilized social media platforms to reinforce the administration’s position, describing the referendum’s second anniversary as marking a “resounding victory” that strengthened Venezuela’s historical claims to the oil-rich Essequibo region. Both officials portrayed the popular consultation as providing critical momentum for Venezuela’s renewed constitutional efforts to assert sovereignty over the 160,000-square-kilometer territory currently administered by Guyana.
The commemorations occur amid ongoing diplomatic tensions between Venezuela and Guyana regarding the border dispute, with Caracas continuing to leverage the 2021 referendum results as democratic justification for its territorial claims in international forums.