Venezuela’s ruling party has claimed victory in regional and parliamentary elections that were boycotted by the opposition. Sunday’s controversial elections were seen as another victory for President Nicolás Maduro’s government, which claimed that for the first time it will have representation in the disputed region of Essequibo, which is administered by the neighboring country of Guyana and is internationally recognized as Guyanese territory. Maduro has recently intensified Venezuela’s assertion over the oil-rich region and said on Sunday that local voters had elected the first-ever governor of Venezuela’s newly created state, Guayana Esequiba. Guyana’s president has denounced this as a “threat.”

This comes as the Miami Herald reports the Trump administration is quietly negotiating a high-stakes deal with Maduro to allow Chevron to continue exporting Venezuelan oil to the U.S. in exchange for Venezuela to begin accepting deported Venezuelan immigrants.