UN to hold emergency meeting at Guyana’s request on Venezuelan claim to a vast oil-rich region

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency closed meeting Friday at the request of Guyana following Venezuela’s weekend referendum claiming the vast oil- and mineral-rich Essequibo region. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered Venezuela’s state-owned companies to immediately begin exploration in the disputed region in Guyana. The diplomatic fight over Essequibo has flared since the 1960s, but it intensified in 2015 after ExxonMobil announced it found vast amounts of oil off the region’s coast. In a letter to the council, Guyana’s foreign minister accused Venezuela of violating international law and asked the council to determine if it is endangering international peace.