Editing Co-operative Republic of Guyana

{{Infobox country|name=Co-operative Republic of Guyana|image_flag=Guyana flag.png|image_coat=Coat of arms of Guyana.svg|capital=Georgetown|largest_city=Georgetown|image_map=Guyana map.svg|map_width=260|official_languages=English|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]|government_type=Assembly-independent republic|leader_title1=President|leader_title2=Prime Minister|leader_name1=[[Irfaan Ali]]|leader_name2=[[Mark Phillips]]|population_estimate=743,700|population_estimate_year=2019|area_km2=214,970}}

'''Guyana''', officially the '''Co-operative Republic of Guyana''', is a country on the north coast of [[South America]]. It is surrounded by [[Federative Republic of Brazil|Brazil]] to the south, [[Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela|Venezuela]] to the west, [[Republic of Suriname|Suriname]] to the east and the Atlantic ocean to the north. In the 1950s and 1960s, the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] attempted to undermine the government of democratic socialist [[Cheddi Jagan]], who was the prime minister of [[British Guiana]] at the time.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|year=2005|title=Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Volume XXXII,
Dominican Republic; Cuba; Haiti; Guyana|chapter=Guyana|title-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212125256/http://www.guyana.org/govt/US-declassifed-documents-1964-1968.html}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Spanish and Dutch colonialism ===
The [[Monarchy of Spain (1516–1700)|Spanish]] were the first country to colonize what is now Guyana. In the early 17th century, the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands|Dutch]] took over what is now [[Republic of Suriname|Suriname]] and eastern Guyana. In 1777, the Captaincy General of Venezuela signed a treaty defining the Esequibo River as the border between Dutch and British territories.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation|author=Saheli Chowdhury|newspaper=[[Orinoco Tribune]]|title=Essequibo and Other Border Issues: Venezuela’s Territorial Losses to Imperialist Powers Through the Centuries (Part 1)|date=2023-12-01|url=https://orinocotribune.com/essequibo-and-other-border-issues-venezuelas-territorial-losses-to-imperialist-powers-through-the-centuries-part-1/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202012125/https://orinocotribune.com/essequibo-and-other-border-issues-venezuelas-territorial-losses-to-imperialist-powers-through-the-centuries-part-1/|archive-date=2023-12-02}}</ref>

=== British colonialism ===
After the [[Statesian Revolution]], the British moved their colonial efforts to South America and plotted to take over Guyana from the Dutch.<ref name=":2" />

Following the 1794 [[Batavian Revolution]] in the Netherlands, Guyanese [[Slavery|slave]] owners allowed the [[Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801)|British]] to take over Guyana because they worried that the Dutch would abolish slavery like [[French Republic (1792–1804)|France]] did. In 1823, following a slave revolt, the British declared martial law and killed 250 rebels.<ref name=":122">{{Citation|author=[[Domenico Losurdo]]|year=2011|title=Liberalism: A Counter-History|chapter=Crisis of the English and American Models|page=157–158|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781844676934|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=5BB3406BC2E64972831A1C00D5D4BFE4|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacebhsj2yxuoudkhkjp6lzgr5jvgyhu76zxe4gw3d65gpg32a6nded4?filename=Domenico%20Losurdo%2C%20Gregory%20Elliott%20-%20Liberalism_%20A%20Counter-History-Verso%20%282011%29.pdf}}</ref>

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. The British also annexed the Dutch region of Tigri, which Suriname still claims to this day.<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=":33">{{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>

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=":33" /> 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=":02">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>

=== Independence ===
In 1944 the [[United States of America|USA]] feared the potential of a communist government taking power once independence was declared, so intervened along with the British to change the electoral system to prevent Jagan's [[People's Progressive Party]] (PPP) being re-elected. The plan worked and [[Linden Forbes Burnham]] leader of the [[People's National Congress]] (PNC) took power. Following this the British lent their support to the new government and granted them independence in May 1966.<ref name=":0" />

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=":33" />

== Border disputes ==
[[File:Guyana Disputed Areas.svg.png|thumb]]
Venezuela claims the [[Essequibo]] region of Guyana, a region covering over half of Guyana's landmass. In 1899 a border agreement with the UK was signed arbitrating that the present day borders would be the final boundaries. On August 18, 1962, the then Venezuelan President, [[Romulo Betancourt]] reasserted Venezuela's claim over the region on the eve of Guyana's independence from the British and has claimed the region ever since. Due to the 2015 discovery of oil in the region, Venezuela's demands for the annexation have ramped up in recent years stressing the exploitive control of company [[ExxonMobil]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Tamanisha John|newspaper=Black Agenda Report|title=Guyana and Venezuela: The Crisis of Imperialism Currently Unfolding on South America's Caribbean Coast|date=2023-11-29|url=https://blackagendareport.com/news/1763/47/Guyana-and-Venezuela-The-Crisis-of-Imperialism-Currently-Unfolding-on-South-Americas-Caribbean-Coast|retrieved=2023-12-03}}</ref>

Suriname also claims the Tigri area in south eastern Guyana.

== References ==
[[Category:Countries]]