THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court is set to announce Friday whether it will order Venezuela to halt parts of a referendum planned for Sunday on the future of a disputed territory that makes up two-thirds of Guyana.
Venezuela does not recognize the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction in the decades-old dispute over the Essequibo region and is expected to press ahead with the referendum regardless of what its judges decide.
At urgent hearings in November, lawyers for Guyana said the vote is designed to pave the way for annexation by Venezuela of the Essequibo — a territory larger than Greece that is rich in oil and minerals. They called on the world court to halt the referendum in its current form.
But Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez defiantly told the court: ” Nothing will prevent the referendum scheduled for Dec. 3 from being held.”
Venezuela has always considered Essequibo as its own because the region was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and it has long disputed the border decided by international arbitrators in 1899, when Guyana was still a…
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