Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso offer a news conference a day after the consultative referendum on Venezuelan sovereignty over the Essequibo region, controlled by neighboring Guyana, at the CNE headquarters in Caracas on Dec. 4, 2023. (Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — A burst of gunfire shattered the stillness along the Cuyuní River when soldiers from the Guyana Defense Force came under attack while navigating a remote jungle waterway near the settlement of Eteringbang — deep within the mineral-rich Essequibo region, a territory claimed by Guyana and Venezuela.
The ambush, launched on May 13 from the Venezuelan side of the border, was the first of three coordinated attacks over a 24-hour period. Guyanese troops returned fire and withdrew without casualties. But the rapid succession of assaults has fueled mounting fears that the regime of Nicolás Maduro is using criminal proxies to destabilize the long-disputed region.
Analysts and Guyanese officials increasingly see the attacks not as isolated gang violence, but as part of a broader, state-sanctioned campaign. A newly released report by InSight Crime argues that Venezuela is forging a dangerous alliance between organized crime and political ambition to assert control over the Essequibo.
“Maduro has long used allied criminal groups, with whom he operates symbiotically under his hybrid state, to achieve his goals,” the report states. These groups, it adds, “with strong connections to Venezuela’s government and a shared interest in profitable gold mining, could have significant incentives to back Maduro’s claim to Essequibo.”
As the international community monitors the escalating tensions, the Essequibo conflict is fast emerging as South America’s next major flashpoint. The volatile mix of gold, guns, and geopolitics presents not only a test of Guyana’s resilience — but a challenge to regional stability.
The stakes are high. The Florida-sized Essequibo region covers nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and holds vast reserves of oil, gold and other minerals. Venezuela has long claimed the land as its own, despite a 1899 international arbitration award that recognized it as part of Guyana.
While Venezuela’s long-standing claim to the mineral-rich Essequibo dates back more than 180 years, the dispute has intensified in light of rising gold prices and Maduro’s use of nationalist rhetoric to bolster support amid domestic issues and international sanctions.
In December 2023, Maduro held a national referendum seeking public approval to use military force to seize the region. His government claimed 98% support, despite widespread allegations of electoral fraud.
Also stoking tensions is ExxonMobil’s offshore drilling in waters claimed by both nations. In February, a Venezuelan warship entered the disputed maritime zone, threatening the oil giant’s operations. The U.S. responded swiftly, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio issuing a stark warning.
“It would be a very bad day for the Venezuelan regime if they attacked Guyana or ExxonMobil,” Rubio said. “We have a large navy, and it can reach almost anywhere in the world. And we have ongoing commitments to Guyana.”
Reacting to U.S. commitments to side with Guyana in the event of an armed conflict, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López has accused the Trump administration of plotting to overthrow Maduro to seize the Essequibo. During a recent televised speech, Padrino called the territory a “spoil of war” for American interests.
In a symbolic but provocative move, Venezuela held regional elections on May 25 to name a governor for “Guayana Esequiba,” Caracas’ term for the disputed territory. Although voting occurred solely within Venezuelan borders, the act was a clear assertion of sovereignty. The elected governor, Admiral Neil Villamizar, vowed to extend administrative oversight to the disputed region — and quickly received Maduro’s endorsement.
Beneath the political theatrics lies a more troubling trend: the quiet incursion of Venezuelan criminal organizations — known locally as sindicatos — into Guyanese territory. These groups, which have long operated with impunity in Venezuela’s Bolívar state on the Guyanese border, are now establishing illegal checkpoints along the Cuyuní River, extorting money from miners and traders and asserting control in areas with minimal government presence.
Among the most prominent groups are Organización R — a mining syndicate with diminishing political clout in Caracas — and the Claritas Sindicato, reportedly linked to the powerful Tren de Aragua gang. Authorities have also reported sightings of ELN guerrillas, a Colombian-Venezuelan insurgent faction, operating near key Guyanese border towns.
The criminal infiltration is not new. Since the creation in 2016 of the Orinoco Mining Arc — a huge area in Venezuela set apart by the regime for mining operations — illegal mining and organized crime have flourished in the southern part of the country, often with military protection. These groups control mining, smuggling routes, taxation systems, and even forced labor in Bolívar state. Now, their model appears to be expanding across the border into Essequibo.
Guyanese officials say cross-border incursions have surged since 2022, with some frontier zones effectively under the control of foreign criminal networks. The consequences stretch beyond security. Gold smuggling is on the rise, fueling concerns over laundering and evasion of international sanctions.
Although Guyana is a legal gold exporter, official production has declined even as suspicions of illicit shipments grow. In 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Mohamed’s Enterprise — one of Guyana’s largest gold companies — for allegedly bribing customs officials and failing to report exports. While Venezuelan gold wasn’t explicitly cited, reporting by Reuters and InfoAmazonia suggests the company may have laundered smuggled Venezuelan gold through Guyana and into international markets, including Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
“There’s no way to distinguish gold from Guyana and Venezuela once it’s refined,” said Guyana Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat. “That’s the real challenge.”
As Venezuela’s economy withers and Maduro’s legitimacy erodes after contested 2024 elections, the Essequibo dispute has become a political pressure valve. By stirring nationalist fervor and outsourcing conflict to criminal networks, Maduro avoids direct military confrontation — while escalating pressure on Guyana.
Guyana’s military, with just more than 4,000 troops, is stretched thin across a dense jungle frontier spanning more than 160,000 square kilometers. Once a natural boundary, the Cuyuní River has become a contested corridor patrolled by syndicates armed with assault rifles.
With a ruling on the border dispute from the International Court of Justice is expected later this year, the situation is reaching a critical juncture. What began as a legal dispute over colonial maps is now unfolding in riverside ambushes, illicit checkpoints and territorial extortion.
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