Americas Bulletin: Elections in Guyana-Venezuela Contested Territory

Date Published: June 01, 2025

Summary

This OSAC report provides a brief update on recent events in the contested Essequibo territory between Guyana and Venezuela.

May 2025 Local Elections

On May 25, Venezuela held national assembly elections in which Neil Villamizar, the candidate from President Nicolas Maduro's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, was overwhelmingly elected to be the governor of the contested region of Essequibo (dubbed Guayana Esequiba by Venezuela). The vote took place in a specially designated micro-voting-district of roughly 21,000 voters in Venezuela's Bolivar state, on the Guyanese border. There was no polling in the contested territory or of the approximately 125,000 people who live there[1].

Guyana has called Venezuela’s actions a “step towards annexation” and an “existential” threat. The Guyanese military, roughly 3,400 personnel, has been called to alert. Venezuelan troops have also been staged on their own side of the border. The U.S. Department of State, the E.U., the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have denounced the election as illegitimate[2].

Both Venezuela and Guyana have historically laid claim to the Essequibo territory, a land mass comprising all territory west of the Essequibo River, and its territorial waters. Multiple international rulings over the past century have designated Essequibo as Guyanese, and an ongoing ICJ case is reviewing the contested border. This region encompasses more than half of Guyana’s territory and includes significant oil and mineral resources.  

• Analyst Comment: While this election is an escalation in the conflict over the Essequibo region, officials from both countries have openly recognized the lack of authority this election provides.
• The deliberate decision not to cross the border to poll citizens of Essequibo in the electoral process demonstrates that Venezuela is weary of provoking an international response. The newly elected governorship is symbolic, and Venezuelan officials have admitted that the position cannot yet govern the contested territory. Nonetheless, this election represents an escalation in the border conflict between Venezuela and Guyana. Further sanctions and internal political disputes may push Venezuela toward a more desperate economic position, and the situation mirrors other international annexation and invasion scenarios. Further escalations by Venezuela are possible, and could result in kinetic conflict in the region.

Additional Information

For more information on the security environment in Guyana, Venezuela, and across the Americas, contact OSAC’s Americas team.

• OSAC Country Pages: Guyana, Venezuela

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