This Land is My Land: Revival of 200 Year Old Territorial Dispute Along the Guyana-Venezuela Border
Colonial maps drawn in the 1830s are the root of an escalating territorial conflict in which Venezuela aims to annex more than 60% of its small eastern neighbor, Guyana. The treasured land in question is known as the Essequibo, which is a resource-rich, sparsely populated region to the west of the Essequibo River, containing the world’s largest per capita reserves of crude oil. Both Venezuela and Guyana were under colonial rule when Guyana’s claim to the territory was established, but the treaties and arbitral agreements made during that period are still contentious. Nearly 200 years later, international authorities are becoming involved to mediate the conflict, but their interventions may be merely symbolic. With new motives reigniting the fire in recent years — namely the discovery of oil in 2015 and increasing nationalist sentiment among Venezuelan voters to establish a new state in the region — it is unclear if international law can reassert itself to deliver a just solution that will be respected by all parties involved.
In Venezuela, it is a deeply rooted belief that the Essequibo region was unjustly taken from them by colonial powers, namely the British who ruled Guyana until its independence in 1966. Guyana, however, is defending the land that has been part of their country for almost 200 years. The Independent Constitution of Guyana provided that the new nation's territory should comprise all areas that belonged to the former Colony of British Guiana, including the Essequibo, formerly established as British Guiana’s western boundary with Venezuela by the Arbitral Award of 1899. To understand the longevity and complexity of these tensions, it is important to first understand how the territorial boundary of the Essequibo was first founded and the validity of legal agreements of succession following colonial rule.
The very origin of the territorial dispute is a result of meddling foreign powers beginning in 1835, when the British sent explorer Robert Schomburgk to conduct geographical research in British Guiana and demarcate territorial boundaries between their colony and Venezuela, which became an independent nation from Spanish rule in 1811. The resulting Schomburgk line defined the western territory boundary of the Essequibo as part of British Guiana, adding 30,000 square miles to the colony. Venezuela denounced this as British encroachment on their territory, which remains a deeply rooted consensus to this day and fuels the unresolved territorial dispute. Amidst growing conflict over gold deposits in the area, the territorial line between British Guiana and Venezuela was submitted to an international Tribunal of Arbitration. In the Arbitral Award of 1899, the Tribunal granted Venezuela the disputed area at the mouth of the Orinoco River and granted Britain full control over the remaining land west of the Essequibo River, about 90% of the disputed territory.
Though accepted by both parties for over 60 years, the 1899 Award was declared void by Venezuela in 1962. Venezuela alleged that the Award was the result of a political deal made by some Tribunal judges, though there was no evidence to support this claim. While the claim of nullity and invalidity never gained significant legal traction, its controversy provoked international bureaucratic processes to determine a means of settlement — the 1966 Geneva Agreement. This established a mixed commission of representatives for the governments of British Guiana and Venezuela to resolve the dispute as Guyana became an independent nation. After failing to quell the dispute, the matter was referred to the United Nations Secretary General, who selected the involvement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the final resolution method. In 2018, Guyana filed a case against Venezuela with the ICJ to determine the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the 1966 Geneva Agreement. On December 18, 2020, the ICJ delivered its judgment and confirmed Guyana's jurisdiction over the Essequibo.
Despite this decision, the issue remains a contentious matter of national sovereignty and territorial integrity in Venezuela. On September 23, 2023, the government of President Nicolás Maduro advocated for a referendum regarding Venezuela’s territorial claim to the Essequibo region. This referendum asked voters whether they support establishing a state in the disputed Essequibo territory, which would grant Venezuelan citizenship to current and future residents while rejecting the ICJ’s decision to settle the contention. Though the ICJ prohibited Venezuela from altering the status quo, the national referendum took place on December 3, 2023, complemented by a Bill for the Defense of the Guyana Essequibo by Venezuela’s National Assembly. The National Electoral Council alleged more than 10.5 million votes in support of the five-question referendum, although few voters were actually seen at polling sites throughout the voting period.
Following rising tensions, both countries declared their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the dispute on December 14, 2023, known as the Argyle Declaration. Despite this nominal peace, tensions continue to rise. On December 28, 2023, President Maduro ordered 6,000 Venezuelan troops, including both air and naval forces, to be stationed near the Guyanese border. Further, the conflict is becoming increasingly international. The UK Defense Ministry sent a British warship to Guyana and announced its intention to conduct training exercises with Guyana's military. This act of solidarity was echoed by the U.S. government, which increased military aid to Guyana, with only 3,000 service members compared to 150,000 active soldiers in the Venezuelan army. Venezuela continues to militarize the Guyana-Venezuela border, sending light tanks, missile-equipped patrol boats, and armored carriers in February 2024. In light of this military escalation, it is clear that the December attempt at peaceful resolution is not deterring aggression.
Venezuela’s intensified claim to the Essequibo followed Guyana’s recent emergence as one of the world’s most prominent energy frontiers after offshore oil discoveries by an Exxon Mobil-led consortium in 2015. With a population of just over 800,000 people, Guyana is poised to become the world’s fourth-largest offshore oil producer. This oil boom is expected to generate billions of dollars for the largely impoverished nation. From December 2019 to December 2023, the Guyanese economy tripled in size and experienced an astonishing real GDP growth rate of 62.3%, the highest in the world. In contrast to its neighbor, Venezuela’s oil industry has plummeted despite having the world's largest proven crude reserves, due to years of mismanagement and economic sanctions imposed on the state-owned oil company following President Maduro’s reelection in 2018. Moreover, as a result of economic and political turmoil under Maduro’s ten-year rule, a quarter of Venezuela’s population fled the country since 2015. Maduro's justification of the referendum centered on oil, claiming that the losers would be Guyanese government, "Exxon Mobil, the U.S. empire," alluding to the increased foreign presence in the region. International involvement is unlikely to cease as Exxon Mobil reaffirmed its right to work in the region, referencing Guyana's established legal ownership of the Essequibo.
Venezuela's rejection of the ICJ verdict and subsequent attempts to annex the Essequibo, especially amidst international pressure, is a stark repudiation of international law. The ICJ's ineffectiveness at resolving this 200-year-old conflict severely compromises its authority as the highest court of the UN and questions if the existing system can effectively resolve future territorial disputes. The presence of oil in the Essequibo and the subsequent international involvement in the dispute will undoubtedly continue to escalate conflict, leaving the region without answers to what it will take to end this conflict once and for all.
Ashley Ganesh is a junior at Brown University, concentrating in Economics and International and Public Affairs. She is a staff writer for the Brown University Undergraduate Law Review and can be contacted at ashley_ganesh@brown.edu.
Mira Echambadi is a junior at Brown University, concentrating in Applied Math and International and Public Affairs. She is an editor for the Brown University Undergraduate Law Review and can be contacted at mira_echambadi@brown.edu.