US pours cold water on Maduro’s sham election for Essequibo

May 26, 2025 News

Kaieteur News- Ahead of the sham elections it had planned for the Essequibo on Sunday, the United States Government had rejected all attempts by Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, and “his illegitimate regime to undermine Guyana’s territorial integrity.”

This was the statement by Michael Kozak, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Kozak called the election a sham. Guyanese journalists who, over the weekend, travelled to Guyana’s border regions to observe whether there were any election day activities by the Venezuelan regime, reported that there were none.

Michael Kozak, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Even in Venezuela, Al Jazeera reported low turnout in the legislative and regional elections fuelled by disillusionment and frustration, under the shadow of a heightened government crackdown and opposition leaders calling for a boycott. Sunday’s elections are the first to allow comprehensive voter participation since last year’s disputed presidential vote, which President Maduro claimed to have won despite contradictory evidence, Al Jazeera reported.

Only last week United States (U.S.) Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, had expressed her country’s readiness to support the GDF in eradicating criminal activity along the borders. Ambassador Theriot made those comments on Tuesday while delivering remarks at the 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel. The ambassador referenced the reports of the attacks by Venezuelan gangs on the ranks of the Defence Force. The attacks occurred between Tuesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 14, while GDF troops were conducting routine riverine patrols between Eteringbang and Makapa.

Unlike the February 17, 2025 incident where six Guyanese soldiers were ambushed and injured during patrol duties in the Cuyuni River, no member of the GDF was injured during the recent attacks. Theriot said, “These are criminals engaging in criminal activity, and the United States stands ready to support the GDF in its effort to eradicate this activity along Guyana’s frontier and to ensure the safety and security of Guyana’s people.”

A man casts his vote in Venezuela’s parliamentary elections, in Caracas, Venezuela May 25, 2025. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno

The U.S. Ambassador noted that investment requires more than just favourable business climate. She noted that the two most common concerns that the U.S. Embassy receives from American companies looking to establish a presence in Guyana are political and civil unrest, particularly around elections time and Venezuela’s aggression.

Reiterating the U.S. position on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, Theriot said, “On Venezuela, our stance has remained exactly the same since this controversy resurfaced. [President Nicolas] Maduro’s rhetoric is inflammatory and unacceptable, but at the end of the day, it is just bluster aimed at shoring up domestic support.”

Guyana had moved to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for provisional measures to restrain Venezuela from holding the elections yesterday. The court subsequently handed down its order on May 1, 2025. In the order, the court reaffirmed previous provisional measures and prohibited Venezuela from taking any action in relation to the contested area.

To the elections, Ambassador Theriot had said that the U.S. fully supports the ICJ’s provisional measures for Venezuela to halt its elections, and noted that the U.S. is extremely unhappy that Venezuela has made an “ill-advised decision” to go ahead with the elections.

Ambassador Theriot said, “Everyone should see the sham for what it is. It’s sabre-rattling from the Maduro regime, nothing more, and no amount of bluster or sabre-rattling changes the fact that the United States will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Guyana in support of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The Guyana-Venezuela border controversy is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Despite a December 2023 agreement between President Irfaan Ali and President Maduro committing to regional peace, on March 1, 2025, a Venezuelan naval vessel entered Guyana’s waters and approached Exxon’s Prosperity Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel operating in the oil-rich Stabroek Block and radioed that the FPSO was operating in disputed territory.

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