The Latest Breaking News from Irfaan Ali

The discovery of vast oil deposits is blamed for reigniting a decades-old territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana that fast worsened as Guyana started granting licenses to multinationals to exploit crude in waters claimed by both countries.

The United States, through National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, urged the sides to find a diplomatic solution to the territorial dispute, saying "we don't want to see this come to blows."

A military helicopter carrying seven people has vanished near Guyana’s border with Venezuela

Guyana and Venezuela agreed Wednesday to "keep the communication channels open" in a fast-worsening feud over a disputed, oil-rich region as Brazil reinforced troops on its northern border with the neighbors.

Guyana's president tells The Associated Press his country is taking every necessary step to protect itself from a potential incursion by Venezuela, which has ordered its state-owned companies to explore and exploit oil and minerals in Guyana’s vast Essequibo region that it considers its own

The Maduro regime is threatening to destabilize the Caribbean in a bid for offshore oil reserves, in a move likely to invite back crippling US sanctions.

About 10.5 million of Venezuela's 20.7 million eligible voters took part in the consultation

Venezuela on Sunday will hold a referendum that it hopes will strengthen its century-old claim to the oil-rich Essequibo territory controlled by neighboring Guyana.

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.