International Court of Justice examines Guyana-Venezuela border dispute

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations, begins on Monday to examine the merits of the dispute which poisons relations between Guyana and Venezuela around the Essequibo, a vast border region rich in oil.

Relations between the small English-speaking country and neighboring Venezuela have been electric for around ten years, Caracas having relaunched its claims to this territory of 160,000 km², or two thirds of the total area of ​​Guyana.

Rich in oil, the Essequibo has been administered by Georgetown for more than a century.

The hearings, which will be held until May 11, must examine in detail the validity of the arbitral award of October 3, 1899 which, during the English colonial era, had established the border between the two countries.

Guyana defends the border established in 1899 and asks the ICJ to ratify this line.

Venezuela, which despite its presence at the hearings does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this case, for its part invokes an agreement signed in 1966 with the United Kingdom in Geneva, before the independence of Guyana.

It defends the Essequibo River, much further east than the current border, as a natural border, as was the case in 1777 at the time of Spanish colonization.

Tensions between the two South American countries escalated when ExxonMobil discovered deposits in 2015 which give Guyana, a country of 800,000 inhabitants, some of the highest per capita crude oil reserves in the world.

Guyana's first round of oral arguments will take place on Monday, while Venezuela will present its arguments on Wednesday.

- Controversial brooch -

The ICJ, which sits in The Hague and settles disputes between States, confirmed after preliminary hearings in 2020 its jurisdiction in the case, introduced by Guyana in 2018.

At the end of 2023, the Court ordered Venezuela in vain to "refrain from undertaking any action that would modify the situation prevailing in the disputed territory" as a referendum on the creation of a new Venezuelan state, "Guayana Esequiba", including the territory, approached. contested.

The court reiterated this order in May 2025 and ordered Venezuela to “refrain from organizing elections, or from preparing to organize elections” in this region.

Caracas had categorically rejected this summons, organizing for the first time a vote to appoint representatives of Essequibo.

Repeated calls from deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for annexation of the territory have raised fears of armed conflict.

Guyana's re-elected president, Irfaan Ali, declared in February that his country was still on alert in the face of "the threat" posed by Venezuela on the Essequibo, including after the January 3 capture of Nicolas Maduro by the United States.

A golden brooch