Guyana’s government on Wednesday said it has formally asked Facebook and Twitter to remove “illegal maps” posted by users showing large parts of Guyana as Venezuelan territory, reflecting a longstanding claim by the neighboring nation.
Venezuela has long laid claim to most of Guyana’s mineral-rich western Essequibo region, disputing the decision of an 1899 international boundaries commission at a time when Guyana was a British territory.
The International Court of Justice in the Netherlands agreed to hear the case in 2020, but a ruling could take years.
Photo: REUTERS
The area, which covers 40 percent of Guyana’s current territory, is believed to contain billions of barrels of oil and large amounts of gas deposits, in addition to gold, diamonds and other minerals.
Authorities in Guyana believe that the group posting the maps has internet protocol addresses linked to officialdom in Venezuela, Guyanan Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud said.
He said the posts and their comments “have the potential to permanently damage relations between states, incite violence against the territory and people of Guyana, and derail the current adjudication of the matter before the ICJ.”
The social media platforms should be able to trace the posts to determine whether they are from individuals or are part of a campaign by Venezuela to influence the court, he said.
The Associated Press sent messages seeking comment from a group mentioned by Guyana, but did not immediately receive a response. The listed Web site was inactive, and a related GoFundMe page said it was based in Miami.
Venezuela has several times taken military action against Guyana as part of the dispute. In 2013, Venezuelan gunboats arrested and detained the crew of a vessel leased by US oil company Anadarko, expelling them from a disputed offshore area.
In 2019, a military helicopter attempted to land on a rig doing survey work for US oil company ExxonMobil in Guyana’s northwestern region. In 2015 when Exxon declared that it had found a large quantity of oil and gas offshore Guyana, Venezuela issued decrees amending its national map to encompass a large part of coastal Guyana it had not previously disputed.
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