Georgetown, Guyana — Guyana on Thursday demanded that Venezuela investigate two recent shootings targeting Guyanese soldiers along their shared border, injuring one soldier.
A protest note from Guyana’s Foreign Ministry said the two attacks were on soldiers patrolling the Cuyuni River earlier this month. This comes just days after the neighboring countries appeared before the International Court of Justice in The Hague for arguments in a dispute a mineral and oil rich area It covers two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is claimed by Venezuela.
One soldier was hit by two bullets in the leg in one of the attacks, the Guyana Defense Force said in a statement. According to the statement, Guyanese authorities have reported similar shootings over the past two years, one of which left eight soldiers injured.
The army said troops retaliated in all cases.
The protest note also urged the Venezuelan government to take steps to prevent future attacks against Guyanese civilians and military.
The Venezuelan government press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez defended her country’s claim. Essequibo Region The UN’s highest court, told judges in The Hague that political negotiations – not judicial decisions – would resolve the centuries-old territorial dispute between the South American countries.
The 62,000 square mile area is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources. this one also sits nearby massive offshore oil reserves Currently production is averaging 900,000 barrels per day.
Venezuela has claimed Essequibo as its own since the Spanish colonial period, when the jungle area was within its borders. But an 1899 decision by arbitrators from Britain, Russia, and the United States drew the border along the Essequibo River largely in Guyana’s favor.
Venezuela has argued that a 1966 agreement in Geneva to resolve the dispute effectively canceled 19th-century arbitration. However, in 2018, three years after ExxonMobil announced a significant oil discovery off the Essequibo coast, the government of Guyana went to the International Court of Justice asking the judges to uphold the 1899 decision.
Tensions between the countries escalated further in 2023, when Rodriguez’s predecessor threatened to annex the territory by force. A referendum was held asking voters whether Essequibo should be turned into a Venezuelan state..
When the hearing started last weekGuyana’s Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd told the panel of international judges that the dispute “has been a stain on our existence as a sovereign state from the very beginning.” He said that 70 percent of Guyana’s area is in danger.
The court is likely to take several months to issue a final and legally binding decision in the case.
