On Wednesday, Venezuela informed the judges of the highest court of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, ICJ, which rejects its jurisdiction in the centuries-old dispute with its neighbor Guyana, centered on an oil-rich region.
The subject of the dispute is a 160,000 km² (62,000 sq mi) border territory around the Essequibo River, composed mostly of jungle, and a maritime area in which important discoveries of oil and gas have been made.
Guyana took the dispute to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, also known as the World Court, in 2018.
“Venezuela does not accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice,” Venezuelan representative Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta said in court.
Following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife by US forces in January, Venezuela is being administered by an interim government that maintains its claim to the Essequibo region.
Guyana requests border ruling
Guyana wants the court, which deals with disputes between states, to confirm the border established in an 1899 arbitration between Venezuela and lthen colony of British Guianaaccording to which the territory belongs to Guyana.
On Monday, Guyana told the judges that the “illegal” claim of Venezuela affects more than 70% of Guyana’s territory and poses an existential threat.
On Wednesday, Moncada dismissed the 1899 arbitration award as fraudulent and imposed by colonial forces in an example of gunboat diplomacy. He reiterated Venezuela’s position that the border dispute can only be resolved through talks between Venezuela and Guyana.
He declared before the judges that Venezuela was “committed to continuing to act in good faith in direct negotiations with Guyana to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”
The final ruling in the case will be handed down within a few months. ICJ rulings are binding and unappealable, but the court has no means to enforce them itself, so it depends on the UN Security Council.
In a referendum held in 2023, Venezuelan voters rejected the ICJ’s jurisdiction over the territorial dispute with Guyana.
