The highest court of the UN ordered Friday 1er December in Venezuela to refrain from any action that would change the status quo in Essequibo, on the eve of the holding of a referendum on the oil-rich Guyana region that Georgetown fears will see annexed by its neighbor.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague, has ordered Caracas to “refrain from undertaking any action which would modify the situation prevailing in the territory in dispute”without mentioning the imminent Venezuelan consultation.
The ICJ rules on disputes between states, but while its decisions are legally binding, it does not have the power to enforce them.
Venezuela nevertheless confirmed immediately that a referendum would be held on Sunday. “Nothing in international law allows the court to interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela, nor to claim to prohibit or modify a sovereign act”, declared the Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, during a press conference. Venezuela “continue all preparations with a view to holding the consultative referendum”she added.
An “existential threat” to Guyana
Caracas has for decades claimed this area of 160,000 square kilometers representing more than two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and where around a fifth of the country’s population lives, or some 125,000 people.
The December 3 referendum is supposed to be about the rejection of a court decision dating back to 1899 which fixes the country’s border with Guyana, a former colony of Great Britain and the Netherlands. In hearings earlier this month before the court, Guyana found that this consultation constituted a “existential threat”.
The country thus asked the court to force Venezuela to stop ” urgently “ the referendum “in its current form” and to refrain from any action aimed at taking control of the territory. “The court rejected this unprecedented and unfounded request in its entirety”said M.me Rodriguez, who considered the ruling a victory. “Guyana tried to get money and got fleeced. »
Guyanese President Irfaan Ali noted that the ICJ states that “Venezuela has no right to annex or invade Guyanese territory or take other measures, regardless of the outcome of the December 3 referendum”.
Gigantic oil reserves
Venezuela’s claim has become more heated since the discovery of oil in the Essequibo by ExxonMobil in 2015. A new and significant discovery of black gold took place last month in the region, adding to Guyana’s reserves at least ten billion of barrels, which are at the same level as those of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The World Application
The Morning of the World
Every morning, find our selection of 20 articles not to be missed
Download the app
Guyana has the largest oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela, for its part, has the largest proven reserves on the planet.
Venezuelans must decide Sunday whether to reject the 1899 agreement that would have been theirs “fraudulently imposed”. The consultation is also supposed to focus on the question of maintaining the Venezuelan position of rejecting any jurisdiction of the ICJ over the dispute and on the attribution of Venezuelan citizenship to the inhabitants of the territory.
Guyana believes that this referendum would allow Venezuela to seize the Essequibo region and annex it in a manner “unilateral and illegal”causing him a “irreparable harm”. Georgetown has accused Venezuela of launching military preparations for annexation, which Caracas denies.
Brazil declared itself “concerned” speak “climate of tension between two neighboring and friendly countries” and announced “an increased military presence” on its northern border.