By Staff Reporter |
DECLARING that Venezuela will “never surrender” its claim to Guyana’s Essequibo region, Venezuela’s Acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, delivered a contradictory and at times combative address before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during the country’s final round of submissions in the ongoing border controversy case.
While professing respect for the ICJ as the United Nations’ highest judicial organ, Rodríguez simultaneously rejected the court’s authority to determine the controversy.
Appearing on Monday before the ICJ— the principal judicial organ of the United Nations — Rodríguez repeatedly challenged the court’s authority to determine the decades-old territorial controversy, insisting Caracas has never accepted its jurisdiction, even as she stressed Venezuela’s respect for the institution.
“Venezuela is a fervent promoter and defender of international law,” Rodríguez said, adding: “For this reason, it respects the International Court of Justice as the main judicial body of the United Nations,” she claimed.
Yet moments later, Rodríguez rejected the court’s involvement in the matter, stating: “Venezuela has never consented to submitting the territorial controversy over Guayana-Esequiba to the jurisdiction of this court.”
Guayana Esequiba is the name Venezuela gives to Guyana’s Essequibo region.
Importantly, the ICJ has already ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear and determine the case on its merits, clearing the way for substantive arguments on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the land boundary controversy between Guyana and Venezuela to proceed.
The acting president argued that her country has long opposed submitting matters involving sovereignty and territorial integrity to international judicial mechanisms.
Rodríguez insisted the 1966 Geneva Agreement remains “the only valid legal instrument” for resolving the dispute and argued that the controversy should be addressed through direct negotiations rather than judicial determination.
The 1966 Geneva Agreement is a treaty signed by Guyana (then British Guiana), Venezuela, and the United Kingdom to establish a framework for resolving Venezuela’s claim that the 1899 Arbitral Award defining the Guyana-Venezuela border was null and void.
Venezuela continues to challenge the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, the internationally recognised ruling that legally established the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela more than a century ago.
Guyana has consistently rejected those claims, maintaining that its case before the ICJ is grounded in international law, and seeks a final ruling affirming the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the border between the two countries. Georgetown has also pointed to the court’s earlier decision affirming its jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Following the hearing, President of the ICJ, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, announced that the court would now commence its deliberations. He said a decision will be delivered at a public sitting, with the date to be announced in due course.Source: Guyana Chronicle
See also Guyana ‘more confident than ever’ of ICJ victory – Guyana Chronicle