Venezuela denounced Guyana's fraud, obstacles and weapons inequality in The Hague

Published at: 11/05/2026 11:55 AM

In a strong statement before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Attorney General of the Republic, Arianna Seijo, denounced fraud, obstacles and inequality of weapons on the part of Guyana, for the preparation of the file in defense of the Essequibo territory.

During the presentation of the concluding observations, in The Hague, Seijo denounced a serious violation of the principle of “equality of arms” in the process, revealing that the United Kingdom has selectively cooperated with Guyana. According to recently declassified documents from the British archives (reference FCO 63/477). “London granted Guyanese advisors restricted access to confidential material, while systematically denying it to Venezuela,” he emphasized.

“On April 25, 2023, Venezuela transmitted a note verbale in which it expressed concern about Guyana's exclusive access to documents related to the dispute, in that note Venezuela recalled the existence of a set of documents communicated by the United Kingdom to Guyana without notification or transmission to Venezuela or the United Nations as required by the Geneva Agreement,” he said.

He also asserted that Venezuela made a specific request that Guyana share a detailed list of the documents received as well as any other document obtained exclusively and Guyana's response of June 22, 2023 rejected any obligation to provide such documentation.

Seijo reiterated that Venezuela is willing to resolve the territorial dispute with Guyana, but such a solution must be achieved in accordance with the only valid legal framework governing the dispute, the Geneva Agreement of 1966 and its mandate to reach a mutually satisfactory solution.

The Venezuelan official lamented the “personal attacks and disqualifications” directed by Guyana's legal team against the Venezuelan defense. “I'm not going to go into Guyana's tactics that are inelegant and inappropriate and that lack the dignity expected in such procedures, especially for a State that claims to respect international law,” he said.

Seijo stressed that Guyana is trying to distort the subject of the dispute by seeking to validate an award born of fraud. “Asserting the validity of the 1899 award would perpetuate a profoundly unlawful colonial result. The parties, by signing the Geneva Agreement, replaced that fraudulent framework with a new one aimed at the practical resolution of the dispute,” he said.

The Venezuelan representative recalled that the 1966 Agreement is not only a rule of international law, but the norm that both nations imposed on themselves to leave behind the structural coercion of the United Kingdom during the period of decolonization.

Mazo News Team