Guayana Esequiba

Guayana Esequiba is the name Venezuela gives to a region that it claims in the west of Guyana. Its area is 159,500 square kilometers. For Guyana, this area is divided into the six administrative regions of Barima-Waini, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Pomeroon-Supenaam, Potaro-Siparuni, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo and Essequibo Islands-West Demerara.

The dispute over this territory is guided by the Geneva Agreement, which was signed by the United Kingdom, Venezuela, and British Guiana in the year of 1966. According to this treaty, all parties are to find a practical, peaceful and satisfactory solution to the dispute.^[1] If no progress is made, the matter is to be sent to an "appropriate international organ" or, if this cannot be agreed upon either, to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.^[1] The Secretary-General took the dispute to the International Court of Justice. On 18 December 2020, the ICJ accepted the case .^[2]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Agreement to resolve the controversy over the frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana (Treaty of Geneva, 1966) from UN
2. ↑ Summary of the Judgement of 18 December 2020