Maduro orders the ‘immediate’ exploitation of oil, gas and mines in Guyana’s Essequibo

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is ordering the country’s state-owned companies to “immediately” begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana’s Essequibo region, a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Venezuela claims as its own. The announcement came a day a day after Maduro got the victory he sought in a weekend referendum on whether to claim sovereignty over the region.