Guyana voted Monday in elections to decide who will manage the South American nation’s new oil riches, as tensions rose in a territorial dispute with neighbor Venezuela.

As some 750,000 eligible voters began casting their ballots for one of six presidential hopefuls, Venezuela said its neighbor was “trying to create a war front.”

This came after Georgetown on Sunday publicly accused Venezuela of firing shots on a boat transporting election materials in the oil-rich Essequibo region which both neighbors lay claim to.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez on Monday rejected the claims and said they were intentionally provocative.

For his part, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said his country “will support anything to eliminate any threat to our security” in response to a quest

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