Venezuelan plans to take over Essequibo, the oil-rich region controlled by neighbouring Guyana.
More than 95% of Venezuelan voters approved a referendum claiming rights over Essequibo.
Essequibo has been under the authority of Guyana - and before its British Guiana - for more than a century, but Venezuela has long sought to control it.
Venezuela claims that the Essequibo River to the region’s east forms a natural border.
The region also has the world’s biggest reserves of crude oil per capita.
The estimated reserves are at least 10 billion barrels – more than Kuwait or the United Arab Emirates.