Venezuelans concerned about Maduro's decisions on Essequibo

VENEZUELAN president Nicolas Maduro, on Tuesday, presented a new map, on which the disputed Essequibo region appears as part of his country.

Maduro also announced new measures to complete the annexation of the territory and the use of its oil resources.

Hours earlier, he had sent a military contingent to Puerto Barima, near the border of the disputed territory.

The move immediately generated hundreds of reactions on Venezuelan social media, including some calling the decision a threat to peace between Guyana and Venezuela.

Others consider Maduro is inciting a war on the continent and turning world superpowers against him as a result of unnecessary decisions.

Some supporters of the Venezuelan government were in favour of the move and described it as "forceful." They also said the Essequibo territory was not being annexed, because it already belonged to Venezuela.

María Solorzano, on Facebook, responded to a survey being done by a Venezuelan internal politics page.

She said: “Until Sunday we thought it was a game by Maduro to try to divert attention from next year's presidential elections. With these decisions we see there is a dangerous move that seeks to generate a war.”

On the same page, Carlos Perez said many of the military would not be willing to mobilise to Essequibo until a formal judgment is made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Several of my relatives are soldiers and they said they do not agree with decisions by the Venezuelan government that go against international justice.”

Perez said the Maduro government is putting pressure on the military to respect the decisions.

So far there have been no reactions from representatives of the Venezuelan opposition, while the government advances its plans to occupy the Essequibo territory.