Around the globe, Washington juggles three crises: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s war with Hamas, and Chinese belligerence over January’s presidential election in Taiwan. Now, Venezuela’s revolutionary socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, is adding a new one, on South America’s northern coast.

Thursday, the Venezuelan dictator will meet with President Irfaan Ali, the democratically-elected leader of Guyana, Venezuela’s sparsely populated neighbor to the east. The goal is to head off South America’s first war since Argentina and Britain fought over the Falkland Islands in 1982.