Guyana-Venezuela border controversy: US monitoring ICJ case closely, pursuing private diplomatic engagements – US official

…as Venezuela continues threats against Guyana

Acknowledging that American investments in Guyana require stability and security amid continued threats from Venezuela, the United States has said meaningful diplomatic progress can be achieved through private discussions.
This position was outlined on Wednesday by United States Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg, who was in Guyana, where he held bilateral discussions with President Dr Irfaan Ali on a range of issues.

During a subsequent press briefing, Helberg was asked what mediatory role the United States could play as Venezuela continues to threaten Guyana while maintaining that it will not recognise any ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the decades-old border controversy between the two countries.
In response, Helberg said Washington will continue monitoring the border controversy case while also pursuing private diplomatic engagements on the matter.
“We’re monitoring that event at the ICJ very, very closely. We understand and agree that security is a precondition for prosperity, and ultimately a lot of those conversations right now will be private, and we believe that we can make progress through private conversations,” Helberg said.

His comments come on the heels of United States Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, issuing a statement sharply criticising Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez over continued threats to Guyana’s territorial sovereignty.
In the statement via X on Tuesday evening, Salazar said, “Delcy thinks she can trick President Trump the same way she and Maduro tricked and destroyed Venezuela. But President Trump knows exactly who she is: another member of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves. You don’t deal with him through secret letters while trying to steal territory from a free and sovereign nation like Guyana. Unlike the Maduro regime, Guyana didn’t rob its people. They managed their oil wealth responsibly, created a sovereign wealth fund, and saw GDP per capita quadruple in just five years. Delcy should stop threatening Guyana and start learning from it.”
Salazar’s statement came one day after Rodriguez told the World Court during oral hearings that Venezuela will ignore its ruling on the border case.

“This Court was created to resolve conflicts, not to encourage them. Only a political and negotiated solution to the territorial dispute can lay a solid and stable foundation for good neighbourliness, cooperation, shared economic development, and the promotion of secure investment in the region,” Rodriguez told the ICJ.
Guyana has already maintained that it will abide by the World Court’s ruling and has expressed hope that Venezuela stops further actions of aggression and follows suit.
“We will continue to address Venezuela in a spirit of peace, cooperation and friendship and as sovereign equals. We will respect Venezuela’s sovereignty, as we have always done, and insist that Venezuela refrain from trespassing on, or threatening, Guyana’s sovereignty,” the Guyanese Government, through the Attorney General Chambers, has said.

“Bad Day”
The US has continuously voiced its support for Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
In fact, during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Guyana in March 2025, he made it clear that Washington would respond with aggression if Venezuela launched an attack against Guyana or US-owned ExxonMobil’s operations offshore.
“It would be a very bad day for Venezuela if they were to attack Guyana, and ExxonMobil, it will be a bad week for them, and it would not end well for them,” Rubio had stated in response to questions during a press briefing at State House in Guyana.
The issue of Venezuela’s and Guyana’s security was one of the key topics during discussions between Rubio and President Ali during last year’s visit.
During the press briefing, Rubio had acknowledged that Guyana has a difficult challenge on its hands amidst Venezuela’s claims to more than half of its territory but assured the Guyanese people, “We will not allow illegitimate territorial claims to be an impediment to your dreams and to your right to develop this country…”
He added that the US has the resources required to address any aggression from Guyana’s neighbouring state.
“We have a big navy, and it can get anywhere in the world, and we have commitments that exist with Guyana, and we want to build on those, expand on those…but suffice it to say that if that regime is to do anything like that, it would be a very bad move, a big mistake for them,” Rubio had said.

Maduro’s capture
On January 3, US troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas, taking them to New York to face several indictments on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
The then Vice President, Rodriguez, has since been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim President.
Following the capture and subsequent departure of Maduro from Venezuela, Guyana’s Prime Minister Mark Phillips reassured citizens of the nation’s security.