By Marisela Luzardo and Entorno | 2025-05-09

CARACAS/GEORGETOWN -- The International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s order for Venezuela to refrain from holding elections in the disputed Essequibo region drew a swift rejection from the Maduro regime in Caracas, while even the leading opposition candidate called for seizing the area "with military force."

As tensions rise, Guyana's shadow foreign minister, Amanza Walton-Desir, on May 7 urged the immediate convening of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Foreign Relations in response to the ICJ's ruling and Venezuela's plans to hold regional elections in Essequibo on May 25.

This request comes "at a time when unity, vigilance and institutional readiness are critical," Walton-Desir said to the media.

The ICJ on May 1 ordered Venezuela to suspend plans for elections in the oil-rich Essequibo region, a territory Guyana has administered for decade but which Caracas claims.

In a stern ruling, the Hague-based ICJ said Venezuela must halt preparations for elections in the disputed area, including the planned vote for a governor of Essequibo, an unprecedented move that Georgetown has condemned.

Call for boycott

The court's decision came just two days after Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) officially launched the campaign period for the May 25 regional and parliamentary elections.

According to the CNE, more than 50 parties, most aligned with dictator Nicolás Maduro, are participating in the vote.

However, the main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Platform, has announced a boycott after alleging fraud in Maduro's "reelection" last July 28.

Venezuelans will vote for governors, members of legislative councils and parliamentary representatives.

For the first time, the voting covers a governorship in Essequibo, a 160,000-sq.-km region at the heart of the territorial dispute. Venezuela now calls Essequibo its 24th state.

On April 13, Adm. Neil Villamizar, a former commander of the Venezuelan navy and the sole Chavista candidate for governor of Essequibo, filed his candidacy with the CNE.

Alexis Duarte, a candidate for the token opposition, launched his own bid for the post.

Sounding at least as strident as the regime, he told the regional outlet Crónica Uno that Venezuela must seize the territory by force.

"If I were governor today, I would urge the executive branch to take Essequibo once and for all," Duarte said in the interview published on May 7. "Essequibo must be taken with the military and civilian forces of Venezuela."

Referendum move

On May 2, the Venezuelan regime flatly rejected the order from the ICJ to suspend upcoming elections "representing" the disputed Essequibo region, an area at the heart of a long-simmering territorial conflict that reignited in 2015 after US energy giant ExxonMobil discovered massive oil reserves there.

In a statement, Caracas declared that it "does not and will never recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice or abide by any decision issued by it."

Despite a December 2023 ruling from the court instructing Venezuela to avoid actions that could alter the status quo, the Maduro regime went ahead with a referendum to assert sovereignty over the region, which comprises two-thirds of Guyana's territory.

The Venezuelan National Assembly later passed a law to designate Essequibo as the country's 24th state, a move that drew protests from Guyana and criticism from other nations.

As ExxonMobil ramps up operations in Guyana, the small English-speaking country of 800,000 is on track to become the world's largest oil producer per capita, outpacing both Qatar and Kuwait.

The company expects daily output to reach 1.3 million barrels by the end of the decade, while Venezuela, once South America's leading oil exporter, has seen production collapse from over 3.5 million barrels per day to about 900,000 after more than two decades of Chavista rule.

Guyana has asked the ICJ to reaffirm an 1899 arbitration ruling that established its current borders. Venezuela, by contrast, cites a 1966 agreement with the United Kingdom, signed in Geneva before Guyana's independence, which it claims nullified the earlier ruling and called for Caracas-Georgetown negotiations.

During a March visit to Georgetown, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that any Venezuelan "attack" on Guyana would not end well," hinting at the possible use of force.