(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)CARACAS, Venezuela -- A century-old territorial dispute deepened by the discovery of oil is boiling over between neighbors Guyana and Venezuela. The consortium began pumping oil in December 2019, converting largely agrarian Guyana into the world’s fourth-largest offshore oil producer. Venezuela’s National Assembly has not released the text of the law it will use to try to enforce the referendum results. But a portion lawmakers discussed Thursday would ban local and foreign companies from operating in Venezuela if they also do business in Guyana. Gonsalves in a letter to Maduro and Guyana President Irfaan Ali expressed an "urgent need to de-escalate the conflict" and said both presidents have agreed to meet Thursday in his Caribbean country.

Source: ABC News December 10, 2023 01:56 UTC