South America's only English-speaking country Guyana goes to the polls on Monday in elections that will decide who will manage the nation's bountiful new oil riches.

In 2015, petroleum giant ExxonMobil discovered huge deposits of crude off Guyana's coast, transforming the fortunes of what was once among South America's poorest countries.

In 2024, Guyana's economy grew by a world-beating 43.6 percent on the back of surging oil revenues.

In the next five years, the government hopes to nearly double crude output, from 650,000 barrels per day currently to over 1 million.

The bonanza comes with a caveat, however.

In 2019, neighboring Venezuela stepped up its long-standing claim to the vast, oil-rich territory of Essequibo, which is home to 125,000 of Guyana's 800,000 citizens.

Analysts ha

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