Border controversy case – Guyana optimistic of favourable ruling – PM tells Parliament

Prime Minister (PM) Ret’d Brigadier Mark Phillips on Friday echoed the Government’s posture on the border controversy case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it was optimistic of a favourable ruling while pledging commitment to peaceful dispute resolution and the rules-based order.
As the country awaits a final ruling due sometime late this year or early next year, the PM said that Guyana is confident the ruling will be in its favour.
“Guyana is confident; in fact, after the oral hearings last month, Guyana is more confident than ever that the Court will uphold the legal validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the finality and permanence of the international boundary,” the PM said as he updated the National Assembly on the case.
He added that Guyana expects the Court to order Venezuela “not to offend, seize, annex or trespass on any Guyanese territory” and expressed hope for “full victory in this historic, and for Guyana, existential, case.”

As President Dr Irfaan Ali has said, the PM reiterated that Guyana is not a hostile country and will await the judgement in peace. “Now that the oral hearings have been concluded, we will await the Court’s final judgement on the merits with patience, dignity and optimism, as His Excellency the President of Guyana has said. And we will continue to address Venezuela in a spirit of peace, cooperation and friendship and as sovereign equals,” he said.
Last month and after the oral arguments, President Ali said that the ICJ’s ruling will give finality to the border controversy with Venezuela, and this country will wait with patience and dignity, as he also called on Caracas to change its defiant stance and choose peace.
Phillips underscored Guyana’s commitment to respecting Venezuela’s sovereignty while insisting that Venezuela must refrain from threatening Guyana’s own. “When the final judgement is issued, we will insist that it be respected and fully complied with, as international law requires. This is the only way forward for our two states: toward a secure, just and lasting peace; an enduring friendship; and a mutually prosperous future for both our peoples.”
The PM, who once headed this country’s army, reminded the Assembly that Venezuela first challenged the 1899 Award in 1962, after decades of acceptance. “The oral hearings established that Venezuela made this very belated protest precisely at the time Guyana was nearing its independence, British troops would be departing, and Venezuela would have a significant military advantage,” he noted.
He traced the path from the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which mandated peaceful settlement, to the UN Secretary-General’s 2018 decision referring the matter to the ICJ. Venezuela’s repeated attempts to derail the process, including objections in 2020 and 2023, were rejected by the Court.
Phillips highlighted Venezuela’s controversial referendum in December 2023, which sought to annex Guyana’s Essequibo Region as “Guiana Esequiba”. Guyana petitioned the ICJ for provisional measures, and the court unanimously ordered Venezuela to refrain from altering the status quo.
On its website the ICJ has said of the case that “The Guyana–Venezuela case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) centres on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the boundary between Guyana (then British Guiana) and Venezuela. Guyana argues the award is final and binding, while Venezuela claims it was fraudulent and invalid. The ICJ has confirmed its jurisdiction, and hearings concluded in May 2026, with a final judgement expected later this year.”