The International Court of Justice on Friday ruled that Venezuela must not take any action to seize Guyana’s county of Essequibo based on its December 3 referendum.
The co0urt issued the following provisional measures:
- unanimously pending a final decision in the case the Bolivarian republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action, which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby the Cooperative Republic of Guyana administers and exercises control over that area
- unanimously both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve.The court emphasizes that the question of the validity of the 1899 Award and the related question of the definitive settlement of the land boundary dispute between Guyana and Venezuela are matters for the court to decide at the merits stage.The court recalls that Guyana has requested to indicate measures aimed at ensuring the non aggravation of the dispute with Venezuela, when indicating provisional measures for the purpose of reserving specific rights.