Guyana

Guyana said Monday it would remain "vigilant" after Venezuelans voted overwhelmingly in favor of claiming an oil-rich border region that makes up more than two-thirds of its territory.

Even though the voting is not binding, tensions are running high between the countries given the rhetoric by Maduro's government

A decades-old dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo territory reaches a new, potentially escalatory chapter on Sunday as Venezuela holds a referendum regarding the Guyana-controlled region.

US Department of Defense officials will visit Guyana next week, the South American country's vice president said Thursday, as he pledged that "all options" are on the table in its row with neighboring Venezuela.

Venezuela has for decades argued that the 160,000-square-kilometer (62,000-square-mile) region administered by Guyana should fall within its borders -- a contention that has brought the neighbors before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

The two countries have been locked in a diplomatic duel since Guyana began auctioning off oil blocks in the Essequibo region, which Caracas claims as part of its territory.