Venezuela rejects ICJ settlement hopes in Guyana dispute
Caracas, (MILLAT ONLINE):Venezuela on Friday rejected the possibility of a “judicial settlement” being brokered at the International Court of Justice over its border dispute with Guyana.
“Resorting to a judicial settlement to settle the dispute is unacceptable, sterile and inapplicable,” Venezuela’s foreign ministry warned in a statement after Guyana formally asked the ICJ to resolve the conflict.
Guyana raised the request before the ICJ on Thursday, after UN chief Antonio Guterres referred the more than century-old border dispute to the court in January.
Venezuela has been pressing a historic claim to Guyana’s Essequibo region, which encompasses two thirds of the former British colony, since US oil giant Exxon Mobil discovered oil in disputed waters off its coast in 2015.
The government of Nicolas Maduro said in the statement that it does not recognize the ICJ’s jurisdiction “as mandatory.”
Venezuela instead proposed to rekindle diplomatic ties with Guyana “that will allow a practical and satisfactory solution of the territorial dispute to be reached.”