Venezuela border controversy: Guyana submits reply to Venezuela’s counter-memorial in case before ICJ

– says submission will prove utter lack of merit in Venezuela’s claims

In keeping with timelines that were imposed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Guyana has submitted its final written reply to Venezuela’s counter-memorial, expressing confidence that the reply has gone a long way in proving the utter lack of merit in Venezuela’s case laying claim to two-thirds of Guyana.
In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it has submitted its reply to Venezuela’s counter-memorial. Venezuela had submitted its counter-memorial in April of this year, at the proverbial last minute.
Guyana’s response to the counter-memorial was personally delivered to the Registrar of the ICJ by Guyana’s Ambassador in Brussels, Sasenarine Singh. According to the Ministry in its statement, Venezuela has the chance to respond to this reply with a rejoinder on August 8, 2025.
“In the merits phase of the case, each party submits two written briefs. Guyana’s Memorial was submitted on 8 April 2023. Venezuela submitted its Counter-Memorial one year later on 8 April 2024. Guyana’s Reply, filed today, responds to that Venezuelan brief. Venezuela will have the opportunity to respond to Guyana’s Reply with its Rejoinder, due on 8 August 2025. Guyana welcomes Venezuela’s engagement in the merits phase of the case,” the Ministry said.
Further, it was explained that the ICJ will in due time set a date for the oral hearings between Guyana and Venezuela to commence. The Ministry also expressed confidence that an adequate case for Guyana has been made in its reply.
In the reply, it is pointed out by the Ministry that Venezuela’s case in challenging the 1899 Arbitral Award, is without merit and that ultimately, the ICJ will confirm the award as valid and legally binding.
“The Government of Guyana is fully confident that it has shown, in its Reply, that Venezuela’s challenges to the Arbitral Award and the international boundary, as set forth in its Counter-Memorial, are entirely without merit, and that the Court will ultimately confirm the validity, finality and legally binding nature of both the Award and the boundary,” the Ministry stated.
After a failed good office process between the two South American neighbours, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres in 2018 had referred the border controversy to be resolved by the ICJ.
Shortly after, Guyana filed a case seeking a final and binding judgement to reinforce that the 1899 Arbitral Award remains valid and binding on all parties, and legal affirmation that the Essequibo region, which contains much of Guyana’s natural resources, belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela.
Submission
Guyana submitted its memorial in March 2022, with Venezuela given until April 2024 to submit its own counter-memorial. It did so on the very last day. This came after two attempts by Venezuela to challenge the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter, had been overturned.
The Nicolás Maduro-led Venezuelan regime has also been stepping up its aggressive tactics, including a military buildup on Venezuela’s border with Guyana. This has been roundly condemned by the international community and the ICJ had imposed orders on both Guyana and Venezuela, not to escalate the matter further.
The Spanish-speaking nation is laying claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass in Essequibo and a portion of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in which more than nine billion barrels of oil have been discovered over the past six years.

Venezuela maintains that the border with Guyana, a former colony of The Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK), was fraudulently imposed by the British. Guyana, on the other hand, maintains that the line was conclusively determined on October 3, 1899 — 124 years ago — by an arbitration panel (Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899).
The Anglo-Venezuelan Arbitral Tribunal met in Paris, France, and on October 3, 1899, gave its “full and final” award defining the border between Venezuela and the then British Guiana. Venezuela accepted the Award and signed on to it. This border was demarcated jointly by Venezuela and the colonial power, Britain in 1907.
However, on February 14, 1962, Venezuela informed the Secretary-General of the UN that it considered there to be a “dispute” between itself and the UK “concerning the demarcation of the frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana”.
The Government of the UK, for its part, asserted on November 13, 1962, that “the western boundary of British Guiana with Venezuela (had been) finally settled by the award which the arbitral tribunal (had) announced on 3 October 1899”, and that it did not “agree that there (could) be any dispute over the question settled by the award”.
After various attempts to resolve the matter had failed, the representatives of the UK, Venezuela, and British Guiana signed the Geneva Agreement on February 17, 1966. On Feb 17, 1966, just before attaining independence, Guyana became a party to the Geneva Agreement. Attempts were made in the ensuing decades to resolve the dispute through different means of settlement outlined in the Geneva Agreement.