Delcy Rodríguez: “Venezuela does not submit its existential issues to judicial mechanisms”

Published at: 11/05/2026 11:37 AM

The president in charge, Delcy Rodríguez, appeared before the International Court of Justice in The Hague to ratify Venezuela's position on Guiana Essequiba, based on the popular mandate of last December 3. During her speech, the president stressed that the country does not recognize the court's jurisdiction to settle this territorial dispute, defending national sovereignty against Guyana's claims in the United Nations judiciary.

“Our people went to the polls and gave us a series of very strong express mandates. Allow me to highlight the first thing: maintaining the historic position of not subjecting existential issues such as independence and territorial integrity to judicial mechanisms,” Rodríguez said at the beginning of his speech.

The president also recalled that the second term of office is to claim the Geneva Agreement as the only valid legal instrument to resolve the conflict peacefully and in accordance with international law.

In her presentation, the president explained that the presence of the delegation does not imply a recognition of competence, but rather an effort to show the historical truth of Venezuelan rights. On this point, he emphasized: “It is a matter of protecting one of the essential attributes of our State; Venezuela has never granted consent to submit the territorial dispute over Guiana Essequiba to the jurisdiction of this court. Article 4 of the Geneva Agreement constitutes an arbitration clause with that north”.

Rodríguez also denounced that the judicial route is an attempt to evade the mandatory political negotiation established by the 1966 treaty, which seeks a mutually acceptable settlement for both parties. He also noted that “the negotiated solution is therefore an inevitable and indispensable condition of the dispute. The Geneva Agreement buries and overcomes the argument over the validity or invalidity of the 1899 award, since guidance is a process aimed at achieving a practical and satisfactory result.”

The president in charge regretted that Guyana's conduct undermined dialogue mechanisms just as important oil fields were discovered in the disputed area. “That method is negotiation, not imposition; there are no winners or losers. This negotiation process was neither exhausted nor abandoned by Venezuela, it was undermined by Guyana's conduct at a time when the planned mechanisms were still fully in place,” the president concluded before the members of the court.

Mazo News Team