Guyana headed to the polls Monday in a pivotal election that will determine who steers the country through its oil-fueled economic boom and an escalating border dispute with Venezuela.
Roughly 750,000 eligible voters cast ballots for one of six presidential contenders. At stake is control of the world’s fastest-growing economy, transformed since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil reserves a decade ago. Guyana now produces about 650,000 barrels of oil a day and expects to surpass a million by 2030—more than any other nation per capita.
Yet the promise of prosperity collides with persistent poverty. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, 58 percent of Guyanese lived below the poverty line in 2024, even as the state budget quadrupled to $6.7 billion in 2025. Many citizens say rising prices have eroded the benefits of new spending.
“We do not have a proper social safety net,” opposition candidate Amanza Walton-Desir said ahead of the vote. “Salaries are stagnant, but prices are skyrocketing.”
That frustration was echoed at a polling station in Georgetown, where 48-year-old nurse Mary Welchman said: “We need 100 percent change in our country. So we are voting for a change.”
Incumbent President Irfaan Ali, of the center-left People’s Progressive Party/Civic, is seeking a second term. He has pledged to use oil wealth to raise wages, expand health and education services, and upgrade infrastructure. Rivals have made similar promises, hoping to convince voters that they can deliver more immediate relief.
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The election unfolded against a tense backdrop. On Sunday, Guyana accused Venezuelan forces of firing on a boat carrying election materials in the contested Essequibo region. Venezuela’s defense minister dismissed the allegation as a provocation. Essequibo, a mineral- and oil-rich territory that makes up two-thirds of Guyana, has been administered by Georgetown for more than a century but is claimed by Caracas.
Ali welcomed the presence of U.S. warships deployed nearby, saying they serve as “a deterrent to any threat to our security.”
With both oil wealth and national sovereignty on the line, Guyana’s vote is being watched closely across the region, where the country’s meteoric rise has stirred both envy and unease.