Delcy Rodriguez Heads to The Hague for International Court Of Justice Case
Delcy Rodriguez is heading to The Hague for the international court of justice case over Venezuela’s land dispute with Guyana. Rodriguez said on Saturday that she would travel in the coming hours to defend Venezuela as the court in the Netherlands continued hearing arguments.
“It has fallen to me to travel in the coming hours to defend our homeland,” Rodriguez said in a televised speech. The trip puts Venezuela’s acting president at the center of a dispute that has already reached the United Nations’ top civil court.
Essequibo and the 1899 border
The case turns on the Essequibo region, a centuries-old dispute that Venezuela says belongs to Venezuela and that Guyana administers now. The territory borders eastern Venezuela and accounts for two-thirds of Guyana’s current territory, making the hearing about sovereignty over a large stretch of land rather than a narrow border line.
At issue is whether the border established in 1899 under British colonial rule should still stand, or whether the line should instead follow a later document signed in 1966 before Guyana gained independence. Those competing claims sit at the center of the court fight in The Hague.
Guyana’s oil and Venezuela’s claim
The economic stakes grew after ExxonMobil discovered offshore oil deposits in Essequibo, giving Guyana the largest per capita crude oil reserves in the world. Venezuela still claims the territory, and the hearing gives both countries a formal legal setting for arguments that have long been tied to the region’s ownership.
Rodriguez’s role is also notable because she had been Nicolas Maduro’s vice president when he was captured and flown to the United States to stand trial. Her long-standing US sanctions were lifted when she became acting president, and officials attending ICJ proceedings are typically granted special legal protections.
The Hague hearing continues
The court has already been hearing arguments in the Venezuela-Guyana case, and Rodriguez’s arrival adds a political face to the legal contest. For Venezuela, the next step is the defense it will put before the judges in The Hague, where the dispute over Essequibo remains before the court.
