Behind Macron's visit to Guyana, the question of the coveted neighboring Guyana

While the French President began a two-day visit to Guyana this Monday, March 25, his Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné is traveling to Guyana, a neighboring English-speaking country. The head of French diplomacy is expected to announce the opening of an embassy in Georgetown, the capital. A first on site for an EU country, if we exclude the United Kingdom before Brexit.

Aerial view of the city of Georgetown, Guyana, in March 2020 (illustrative photo). AFP - LUIS ACOSTA

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The least we can say is that

Guyana

, this small country which has become an oil and gas giant in recent years, attracts everyone's desire. And first, that of its big neighbor,

Venezuela

. Its president Nicolas Maduro

intends to assert

the sovereignty of his country over the west of the Essequibo, or 2/3 of Guyana. This would bring the country's oil and gas windfall into its hands, reserves estimated at more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Since 2015, discoveries have continued to multiply, led in particular by the American Exxonmobil. The

United States

is on the front lines in Guyana. CIA chief William Burns was at the presidential palace last week, much to the anger of Caracas. This Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton will inaugurate a business forum. But Guyana intends to diversify its economy so as not to fall into the oil curse.

The whole world is welcome in this country. Transport infrastructure, new technologies, agriculture, the needs have been clearly expressed by President Irfaan Ali. Aware of this prospect,

France

ended up opening an office with a resident charge d'affaires last year. The opening of an embassy would mark the desire to go even further with this close neighbor of France, from which Guyana

is

only 600 km as the crow flies.

Read also Guyana: a fast-paced field visit for Emmanuel Macron

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