Journey to be first time Rodriguez has left Caribbean since Maduro abduction, will attend ICJ case on Guyana land dispute.
Printed On 9 Could 2026
Venezuela’s appearing President Delcy Rodriguez is heading to The Hague for a land dispute case with Guyana on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ).
The journey to the Netherlands introduced on Saturday would be the first time she’s left dwelling because the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in January.
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“It has fallen to me to journey within the coming hours to defend our homeland,” Rodriguez stated in a televised speech.
The United Nations’ high civil court docket in The Hague has already been listening to arguments within the Venezuela-Guyana case, which pertains to a centuries-old dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo area.
Venezuela claims the territory, presently administered by Guyana. The sprawling area bordering jap Venezuela accounts for two-thirds of Guyana’s present territory.
The invention by ExxonMobil of offshore oil deposits in Essequibo gave Guyana – with a inhabitants of lower than one million – the biggest per capita crude oil reserves on the earth.
The case focuses on whether or not the present border, established between the 2 nations in 1899 beneath British colonial rule ought to stay legitimate, or if the border ought to be drawn in accordance with a later doc from 1966 signed earlier than Guyana gained its independence.
Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s vp when he was captured and flown to the USA to face trial, had lengthy been beneath US sanctions. They have been lifted when she grew to become appearing president. Regardless, officers attending ICJ proceedings are usually granted particular authorized protections.
Rodriguez, a supporter of Maduro’s Chavismo motion, has remained compliant to a listing of US calls for, together with stopping oil deliveries to Cuba, opening Venezuela’s state-owned oil business to overseas firms and releasing political prisoners.
On the identical time, she has sought to strike a cautious stability with Venezuela’s influential inside safety equipment and army.
Regardless of saying she was invited to the US by the Trump administration, she has up to now not made the journey. However has visited the close by Caribbean islands of Grenada and Barbados.

