Oil-rich Essequibo Region: Venezuela passes law to annex most of Guyana. President Maduro has now enshrined this plan in law, sparking fears of an invasion.
Guyana's Attorney General Anil Nandlall had already said after the referendum that he would ask the UN Security Council for help if Venezuela took further steps. The Esequibo area accounts for more than two thirds of the land area of the former British colony. 125,000 of the 800,000 inhabitants live there.