Venezuela promised to take over part of Guyana. Why now?

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro this month ordered schools and government offices to use a redrawn map of the country, which includes a brand-new state – carved out of neighboring Guyana’s territory. The national oil company plans to hand out exploration licenses there, and the military is creating a division to administer the territory.

Guyana – and international courts – aren’t on board.

Venezuela and Guyana are at odds over the Essequibo, a sparsely populated patch of land that is covered by rainforests, flat-topped mountains, and sweeping savannas. It has belonged to Guyana since a 19th-century court ruling that never made Venezuela happy, but recently discovered oil reserves have