Guyana to seek help from UN’s top court as Venezuela vies for control of disputed territory

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Guyana said Thursday that it will seek help from the United Nations’ top court to deter plans by neighboring Venezuela to elect a governor to rule its western Essequibo region, an area rich in resources long claimed by Venezuela as its own.

Guyana’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Venezuela’s plan violates a December 2022 agreement between the two countries to not trigger conflict or escalate tensions over the mineral- and oil-rich region comprising two-thirds of Guyana’s land mass.

“The people of Guyana’s Essequibo region are Guyanese nationals who live in Guyana’s sovereign territory,” the ministry said. “It would be a flagrant violation of the most fundamental principles of international law, enshrined in the U.N. Charter, for Venezuela to attempt to conduct an election in Guyanese territory involving the participation of Guyanese nationals.”

The ministry said it would ask the International Court of Justice in The Netherlands for provisional measures to stop Venezuela in its tracks if it goes ahead with plans to elect a governor of Essequibo. It said plans by Venezuela to administratively incorporate Essequibo into Venezuela “not only jeopardize the judicial process but also undermine the authority of the court as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.”

Venezuela has always considered Essequibo as its own because the region was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period. It has long dismissed the border drawn by international arbitrators in 1899, when Guyana was still a British colony.

After years of fruitless mediation, Guyana went to the world court in 2018, asking judges to rule that the 1899 border decision is valid and binding. Venezuela argues that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration.

A ruling is not expected this year because Venezuela was given until late August to reply to arguments made by Guyana.

Venezuela’s interest in the Essequibo region peaked after massive quantities of oil and gas were discovered off Guyana’s coast in 2015, with oil production currently at 650,000 barrels a day.

The latest dispute between the two countries comes just weeks after Guyana objected to the completion of a bridge by Venezuela’s military on Guyana’s side of the bordering Ankoko Island, calling it a breach of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Tensions between the two had eased for most of last year, especially after Guyana allowed the U.S. military to fly fighter jets over the capital, Georgetown, in May in a show of support for Guyana.

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