Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez is traveling to The Hague to participate in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case concerning a centuries-old land dispute with Guyana over the oil-rich Essequibo region.
The trip to the Netherlands, announced on Saturday, marks her first departure from the country since President Nicolas Maduro was allegedly abducted by US forces in January. In a televised speech, Rodriguez stated: "It has fallen to me to travel in the coming hours to defend our homeland."
The UN's top civil court in The Hague has been hearing arguments in the Venezuela-Guyana case, which revolves around the Essequibo region—a sprawling area bordering eastern Venezuela that currently accounts for two-thirds of Guyana's territory. Venezuela claims the territory, while Guyana administers it.
The discovery of offshore oil deposits by ExxonMobil in Essequibo has given Guyana, with a population of less than one million, the largest per capita crude oil reserves in the world.
The case focuses on whether the current border, established in 1899 under British colonial rule, should remain valid, or if it should be redrawn according to a 1966 document signed before Guyana's independence.
Rodriguez, who served as Maduro's vice president when he was captured and flown to the US to stand trial, had long been under US sanctions. These sanctions were lifted when she assumed the acting presidency. However, officials attending ICJ proceedings are typically granted special legal protections.
A supporter of Maduro's Chavismo movement, Rodriguez has reportedly complied with a list of US demands, including halting oil deliveries to Cuba, opening Venezuela's state-owned oil industry to foreign companies, and releasing political prisoners. At the same time, she is said to be balancing the interests of Venezuela's influential internal security apparatus and military.
Despite claims of an invitation to the US by the Trump administration, she has not yet made that trip but has visited the nearby Caribbean islands of Grenada and Barbados.
Source: www.aljazeera.com