On Tuesday, Venezuela strongly criticized its neighbor, Guyana, for auctioning off oil blocks positioned in a disputed area off the coast. Caracas claims this area as a part of its territory, whereas it has been administered by Guyana because the 160,000-square-kilometer (62,000-square-mile) Essequibo area.
The dispute over the Nineteenth-century border escalated considerably in 2015 when crude oil deposits have been found off the coast of this disputed area. At present, a pending dispute associated to this border is earlier than the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, albeit towards Venezuela’s objections.
Venezuela’s overseas ministry in Caracas issued an announcement strongly denouncing Guyana’s public sale of oil blocks, asserting that it’s unlawful and needs to be suspended till the ICJ decides. Venezuela additional claimed that Guyana lacks sovereign rights over these maritime areas and is in violation of worldwide legislation.
In response, Guyana’s presidency defended its actions, stating that it has the suitable to pursue financial growth actions inside its sovereign territory. Guyana, as soon as a Dutch and
British colony, maintains that its border with Venezuela was established by an arbitration tribunal in 1899, following a disaster that prompted intervention by america on behalf of Caracas, which had shut ties with Washington on the time.
In 2018, Guyana formally requested that the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice in The Hague affirm the 1899 border settlement. Nonetheless, Venezuela contends that the Essequibo river, located to the east of the disputed area, serves as a pure border between the 2 international locations, a declare acknowledged since 1777 and one which rejects the arbitration ruling.
It’s price noting that the Essequibo area is residence to roughly 125,000 of Guyana’s 800,000 residents, in accordance with a census performed a decade in the past. Moreover, Guyana possesses important oil reserves, estimated to be at the least 10 billion barrels, making it one of many international locations with the best per capita oil reserves, surpassing even Brunei, Kuwait, or the United Arab Emirates.
