The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, commemorated this Wednesday the victory of the Consultative Referendum for the Defense of the Essequibo, held on December 3, 2023. In a message via Telegram, the president highlighted the historic participation of the Venezuelan people in this sovereign process:
«The Venezuelan people is the victor of the Essequibo Region, without exclusion or partisanship», as affirmed the head of state. He recalled that, for the first time in 150 years of struggle, the popular will regarding this territory was directly consulted through a democratic mechanism.
The Head of State emphasized that the referendum constituted “an inclusive, educational, and exciting campaign that awakened the national spirit.» He stressed how the citizenry responded with a high level of awareness and preparedness to this historic consultation on the territorial claim.
The president emphasized that through the vote was given «a vital and transcendental impulse to begin a new historical stage.» This process sought to exercise popular and constitutional sovereignty in order to recover the legacy of the Liberators, according to his words.
It is worth recalling that on December 3, 2023, Venezuelans went to the polls to participate in the consultative referendum based on the 1966 Geneva Agreement. This consultation represented an unprecedented democratic exercise in the long-standing dispute over the Essequibo territory.
On that historic journey, more than 95% of voters supported the Venezuelan position on the Essequibo region. The result reflected the majority support for the claim to this territory, which Caracas considers an integral part of its geographic space.