Guyanese President Irfaan Ali urged Venezuela before the UN General Assembly on Thursday to respect the International Court of Justice’s forthcoming decision over the Essequibo region, an oil-rich territory that Caracas has claimed for decades.
The territory, where oil was discovered in 2015, has been at the center of a dispute between the two South American countries since the 19th century.
The ICJ has heard the case but has yet to render a ruling on the Essequibo region, which represents more than two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.
Venezuela, despite having presented its position in The Hague, does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
“We urge Venezuela to abide by the forthcoming ruling in accordance with their obligations under the UN charter, as Guyana will do,” Ali said in New York.
“Guyana has always advanced a peaceful settlement of the controversy in relation to our border with Venezuela,” he said.
Guyana, a small English-speaking country just east of Venezuela, argues that the border, which dates back to the British colonial era, was ratified in 1899 by an Arbitration Tribunal in Paris and wants the ICJ to confirm its boundary.
But Venezuela maintains that the border demarcation must be renegotiated in accordance with an agreement signed by the United Kingdom in 1966, before Guyana’s independence.
On Wednesday, also before the United Nations General Assembly, Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez called on Guyana “to return to the negotiating table.”
During her speech she wore a brooch in the shape of a map of Venezuela that included the Essequibo territory.
Rodriguez, who succeeded president Nicolas Maduro after he was removed by US forces in January, was previously responsible for the Essequibo case before the ICJ.
Repeated calls by Maduro for the annexation of the territory briefly raised fears of an armed conflict, but leaders of the two countries met at the time and pledged not to resort to arms.
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