Guyana asks ICJ to deliver clear ruling on border controversy with Venezuela

Guyana has asked the International Court of Justice to deliver a clear ruling on the border controversy with Venezuela as only a definitive one can safeguard this country’s territorial integrity.

“If the Court accepts Guyana’s arguments, as we are confident that it will, then it is essential that the Court’s judgment directly, explicitly and unambiguously affirms the validity of the 1899 Award in its integrity, and the boundary which it established,” Attorney General Anil Nandlall told the ICJ today during the second round of arguments and as Guyana rebutted Venezuela’s pleadings on Wednesday.

This country’s Attorney General who was the penultimate speaker during the hearings held today at the United Nations highest court maintained that only a definitive judgment can resolve the matter.

“Any ambiguity or qualification in the Court’s judgment will inevitably be seized upon by Venezuela as a basis for continuing to lay claim to vast swathes of Guyana’s sovereign territory.”

“The clarity and specificity of your judgment are vital to the effective resolution of this longstanding dispute. You will have heard, as we did, the suggestion that a judgment in favour of Guyana would not end the dispute. That suggestion underscores the need for a clear and complete judgment,” he added.

The Attorney-General emphasised that the dispute is not merely about lines on a map but about the very survival of Guyana as a nation. “The loss of the territory claimed by Venezuela would eviscerate Guyana. Indeed, the country as we know it would cease to exist,” he said.

Echoing with urgency what Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd had said on Monday when oral arguments began. That he case has “existential quality”, Nandlall said that for the people of this country the ICJ represented the final hope of securing peace and stability. “For Guyana and its people, the stakes could scarcely be higher,” Nandlall he said.

Nandlall also told the court that international law remains unshaken. “It is both an article of faith and a source of national pride. From Guyana’s perspective, there is no higher value or greater imperative than respect for international law.”

And when Guyana’s Agent, Carl Greenidge, delivered the closing oral submissions he firmly restated Guyana’s position that the 1899 Arbitral Award is valid, binding, and definitive in settling the boundary with Venezuela.

Greenidge, speaking on behalf of President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and the Government of Guyana, urged the Court to “adjudge and declare” that Venezuela must respect Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “The 1899 Award is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela, and the boundary established by that Award and the 1905 Agreement is the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela,” he said.

Guyana’s Agent said that this country enjoys full sovereignty over the territory between the Essequibo River and the boundary established by the 1899 Award and the 1905 Agreement, and that “Venezuela is under an obligation to fully respect Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with the boundary established by the 1899 Award and the 1905 Agreement.”

And in addition to arguing that Venezuela has failed to prove any historical occupation to Guyana and dispel that the 1899 Award was given through a unanimous ruling, the submissions yesterday from Guyana has also asked the Court to recognize Venezuela’s failure to comply with provisional measures ordered on 1 December 2023 and 1 May 2025, and to require Venezuela to withdraw from Guyanese territory, including Ankoko Island, which was attributed to Guyana under the 1899 Arbitral Award.