Guyana demanded Thursday that Venezuela investigate two shootings that Guyana said targeted Guyanese troops along their shared border, one of which left a soldier wounded, as tensions around the resource-rich Essequibo region play out on two tracks: reported border incidents and a major court case in The Hague.
In a protest note issued by Guyana’s Foreign Ministry, the government said the two attacks occurred earlier this month as troops patrolled the Cuyuni River. Guyana said the shootings were directed at soldiers and that one attack resulted in a soldier suffering two gunshot wounds in the leg, according to the Guyana Defense Force.
Guyana’s Defense Force said in a statement that soldiers returned fire in all cases. The military also said Guyanese officials have reported similar shootings over the past two years, including one incident that injured eight soldiers. The Foreign Ministry’s protest note urged Venezuela’s government to take steps to prevent future attacks against both Guyanese civilians and military personnel.
The note and the related demand arrived only days after Guyana and Venezuela appeared before the International Court of Justice at The Hague to argue a dispute over Essequibo. The region spans about 62,000 square miles and is rich in resources including gold, diamonds, timber and other natural supplies, while also sitting near offshore oil deposits that are currently producing an average of 900,000 barrels a day, according to the AP report.
The Essequibo dispute dates back to Spanish colonial-era claims, when the jungle region fell within boundaries that were later contested by both countries. An 1899 decision by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States largely drew the border along the Essequibo River in favor of what is now Guyana. Venezuela has said a 1966 Geneva agreement nullified that earlier arbitration, and the AP report said Venezuela has argued the agreement effectively resolved the matter in its favor.
The current court case gained momentum after ExxonMobil’s oil discovery off the Essequibo coast, with Guyana going to the ICJ in 2018 to ask judges to uphold the 1899 ruling. Tensions between the neighbors also escalated in 2023, when Delcy Rodríguez’s predecessor threatened to annex the region by force after conducting a referendum that asked voters whether Essequibo should be turned into a Venezuelan state.
During the hearings that began last week, Guyana’s foreign minister, Hugh Hilton Todd, told the panel that the dispute “has been a blight on our existence as a sovereign state from the very beginning,” according to the AP report. He said that 70% of Guyana’s territory is at stake.
On Monday, Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez defended Venezuela’s position at the United Nations’ top court, telling judges in The Hague that political negotiations—not a judicial ruling—will settle the century-old territorial dispute, the AP report said. The report said Venezuela’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ICJ is expected to take months to issue a final, legally binding ruling.