On Tuesday, Guyana asked the International Court of Justice to issue an emergency ruling to stop Venezuela’s planned referendum on oil fields on the territory of Guyana claimed by the Caracas government, Reuters reports.

The case concerns the Essequiba region in western Guyana, which covers an area of ​​more than 160,000 square kilometers. The region is controlled and administered by Guyana, but has been claimed by Venezuela since its smaller neighbor gained independence in 1966.

The territory’s status is governed by the Geneva Convention, signed by Britain, Venezuela and British Guiana, as Guyana was called when it was a colony of London, in 1966.

An international treaty signed at the time stipulates that the parties agree to reach a “peaceful and satisfactory” settlement of the dispute and that, failing that, the matter will be referred to “an appropriate international body” or, failing mediation, to the Secretary-General UN.

But the UN Secretary General refused jurisdiction in this case, saying that he should be tried by the International Court of Justice. Venezuela asserted its claim to the territory after significant oil deposits were discovered on the maritime border between the two countries, off the coast of the Essequiba region.

Venezuela appears to be ignoring the settlement of the dispute with Guyana by international justice

In December 2020, the International Court of Justice accepted Guyana’s case to settle the dispute and gave the Venezuelan government until March 2023 to present its own decision on the disputed territory.

A decision on the merits of the case could take years, as the government of President Nicolás Maduro has announced a referendum to ask Venezuelans whether mining in Essequiba should begin.

The referendum is due to take place next month, on December 3, just over a month before Venezuela’s presidential election. They will take place on January 10 next year. Some political analysts note that the Maduro government’s move on the referendum is designed to increase support for the government ahead of the election.

But the announcement of the referendum has alarmed Guyana, which says the move is aimed at undermining its territorial integrity.

“It seeks to create a new Venezuelan state that intends to annex and incorporate into its territory the entire region of Essequiba, which constitutes more than two-thirds of the national territory. [al Guyanei] and grant Venezuelan citizenship to its people,” says Carl Greenidge, Guyana’s former foreign minister from 2015 to 2019.

Just last month, Guyana announced a new discovery of significant oil deposits in its offshore areas.