Guyana challenges Venezuelan claim on oil-rich jungle territory at ICJ

Guyana has asked judges at the International Court of Justice to rule that Venezuela does not have a legitimate claim on the potentially oil-rich region around the Esequibo river, which has been the subject of a dispute between the Latin American neighbours since colonial times.

"Facing a larger and more powerful neighbour's designs on our territory has not only threatened our peace and security, it has held back our development," Guyana's Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd told judges at the start of week-long hearings at the ICJ, also known as the World Court.

At issue is a 160,000-square-kilometre (62,000-square-mile) border territory around the Esequibo river, which is mostly jungle, and an offshore area where massive discoveries of oil and gas have been made.