Gayana blame Venezuela of attacking election officials before voting

Guyana’s security forces say the boat was transporting officers and the ballot boxes were shot on the Venezuelan coast in the challenged Esseciba region.

Guyana’s police and defense forces said in a joint statement that the incident happened on Sunday, ahead of the South American country elections on Monday.

The patrol, which accompanied the officials, “immediately returned the fire,” and no one was injured, said Guyana’s security forces.

Venezuela did not commented on the incident, which is against the background of a territorial dispute between the two countries in an Esseciba’s oil -rich region.

The area of ​​159 500 square km (61 600 square miles) was introduced by Guyana, and British Guyana for a century.

But Venezuela claims that President Nicolas Maduro’s government held a referendum, which has more than 95% of Venezuelans who voted for his demand.

Gayana delivered the issue to the International Court, but Venezuela disputes the powers of the court.

The statement of the Guyan security forces did not say who may be behind the shooting, but they insisted that the shots were released from the Venezuelan territory.

It adds that the ballot boxes aboard the boat were delivered safely to the remote polling stations for which they were intended.

Voters in Guyan have been elected president over the next five years, as well as MPs of his parliament.

Acting, President Irfaan Ali of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) works for a second term, and polls believe he is a leader.

It is disputed in the top position of Norton from the Partnership Coalition for National Unity (APNU) and Azrudin Mohammed, a billionaire who is trying to disrupt the two -way Guyana system.

The polls conducted before the voting were president Ali as a favorite received on income from the economic boom, which is experiencing after the opening of massive marine oil fields.

According to the IMF, 800,000 residents saw GDP practically Quitula in five years since 2020.

President Ali used profits to improve Guyana infrastructure, investment in road construction and education, including visiting state universities for free.

But his critics say that oil revenues were directed disproportionately for the benefit of groups that traditionally support the Ali Party, the president’s accusation.

Guyana’s political landscape has been largely crashed through ethnic lines, with members of the Indo-Guyan community traditionally supporting PPP/C and African voters, mainly supporting the People’s National Congress, which is part of the coalition governed by Norton.

The party or coalition, which wins the majority of votes, makes the president.

While President Ali said he was convinced of the re -election, his party had only a single majority in the legislative body.

Analysts have noted that the company of the third candidate Azruddin Mohammed could break open voting samples and lead to an unexpected result.

The blockages are closed at 6:00 pm local time (22:00 GMT).