Editing Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

|capital=Caracas|largest_city=Caracas|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]] (ruled by a [[socialist]] party)|leader_title1=President|leader_name1=[[Nicolás Maduro]]|leader_title2=Vice President|leader_name2=[[Delcy Rodríguez]]| image_map                    = Venezuela Map.svg

|map_caption=Map of Venezuela according to the 2023 referendum. Light green territories are not recognized by the UN.| official_languages            = Spanish

In 1815, Britain recognized the 1777 borders of Venezuela. In 1822, under the orders of [[Simón Bolívar]], Ambassador [[José Rafael Revenga]] criticized British intrusions west of the Esequibo. After [[Gran Colombia]] broke apart, the Michelena-Pombo Treaty of 1833 divided the Guajira Peninsula roughly in half between Colombia and Venezuela. The Venezuelan parliament rejected the treaty and continued to dispute the region until 1883.<ref name=":2" />

In 1840, the Royal Geographic Society of London sent [[Robert Schomburgk]], a [[Holy Roman Empire (800–1806)|German]] geographer, to map the border between Venezuela and British Guyana. His map claimed the sparsely populated Guayana Esequiba and Tigri regions as part of Guyana. In 1841, [[Alejo Fortique]], the Venezuelan ambassador to the UK, argued the Esequibo issue and made the British agree to future negotiations on the border. After he died in 1845, Venezuela agreed to postpone border negotiations.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation|author=Saheli Chowdhuri|newspaper=[[Orinoco Tribune]]|title=Essequibo and Other Border Issues: Venezuela’s Territorial Losses to Imperialist Powers Through the Centuries (Part 2)|date=2023-12-03|url=https://orinocotribune.com/essequibo-and-other-border-issues-venezuelas-territorial-losses-to-imperialist-powers-through-the-centuries-part-2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204033538/https://orinocotribune.com/essequibo-and-other-border-issues-venezuelas-territorial-losses-to-imperialist-powers-through-the-centuries-part-2/|archive-date=2023-12-04}}</ref>

After the Federal War, Juan Cristósomo Falcón became President and appointed [[Antonio Guzmán Blanco]] as representative to Britain. Britain rejected Guzmán Blanco's attempts to solve the border dispute in the 1870s and 1880s. In 1883, [[Kingdom of Spain (1874–1931)|Spain]] also ended the Guajira dispute in favor of Colombia, and President Guzmán Blanco recognized the result. Venezuela ended relations with the UK in 1887 and mistakenly asked for the USA's help against Britain.[[File:Guyana Disputed Areas.svg.png|thumb|253x253px|Venezuela claims the Guayana Esequiba region, which Guyana currently controls.]]

In 1895, the United States asserted the [[Monroe Doctrine]], which considers the Americas to be territory for colonization by the USA rather than colonization by [[Europe]]. The UK initially refused to negotiate until the USA threatened war. In 1897, after the UK refused to negotiate with Venezuela, which it considered uncivilized, the USA decided to negotiate on Venezuela's behalf without taking its interests into account. The UK and USA created a tribunal of five people: two from the UK and three from the USA. The last member, [[Frederick Fyodor Martens]], was a [[Russian Empire (1721–1917)|Russian]] diplomat who wanted Russia and Britain to cooperate in invading Central Asia. In 1899, the tribunal created the Paris Arbitration Award, which surrendered Guayana Esequibo the British.<ref name=":3" /> The affair was an early instance of the Monroe Doctrine being invoked and the U.S. asserting itself as an imperial power.<ref>[https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/venezuela “Milestones: 1866–1898 - Office of the Historian.”] 2023. State.gov. 2023.</ref><ref name=":0">Wilkins, Brett. [https://www.telesurenglish.net/opinion/The-History--and-Hypocrisy--of-US-Meddling-in-Venezuela--20190128-0016.html “The History - and Hypocrisy - of US Meddling in Venezuela.”] Telesurenglish.net. teleSUR. 2018. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230307033238/https://www.telesurenglish.net/opinion/The-History--and-Hypocrisy--of-US-Meddling-in-Venezuela--20190128-0016.html Archived] 2023-03-07.</ref>

In 1949, the Statesian Judge [[Otto Schoenrich]] published the [[Mallet-Prevost Memorandum]]. [[Severo Mallet-Prevost]] had been one of the Statesian lawyers at the 1899 Paris tribunal along with former [[President of the United States|U.S. president]] [[Benjamin Harrison]] and others. The memorandum described the tribunal in detail and said that the British had forced the U.S. jurors to accept an unequal treaty towards Venezuela.<ref name=":3" />

Oil production increased after [[Mexican United States|Mexico]] nationalized its oil in 1938, doubling in the 1950s. The dictator [[Marcos Pérez Jiménez]], who ruled from 1952 to 1958, used oil revenues to fund construction projects that did not help the workers. In 1958, a new progressive government led by the [[Democratic Action (Venezuela)|Democratic Action]] party planned to nationalize the oil industry.<ref name=":122" />^:176–9 [[Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso|Juan Pérez]] helped establish [[Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries|OPEC]] in 1960.<ref name=":122" />^:184

 

When Guyana became independent from the British in 1966, Venezuela agreed to temporarily leave the Esequibo region under Guyana's control until they could reach a permanent solution. However, Venezuela did not recognize Guyananese authority over the disputed region. In 1970, with the Port of Spain Protocol, Prime Minister [[Eric Williams]] of Trinidad and Tobago made an agreement that Guyana and Venezuela would maintain bilateral ties and that Venezuela would not claim the Esequibo until 1982.<ref name=":3" />