Ali rejects Venezuela’s call to reopen Guyana border negotiations

Guyana President Irfaan Ali has all but dismissed a call by Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez for the two countries to return to negotiations over their long-running border dispute.

Rodriguez, addressing the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday, appealed directly to Guyana to pursue a negotiated settlement of Venezuela’s claim to the Essequibo region.

“Here, I appeal to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to resolve the issue and to return to negotiations, as stipulated by the Geneva Agreement,” Rodriguez said.

She argued that bilateral agreements were more durable than settlements imposed by outside institutions.

“Agreements that last the longest emerge from bilateral negotiations. They last longer and function better than those imposed by external bodies,” she said.

But in his own address to the UNGA, Ali made no call for a return to negotiations and instead reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where the dispute is currently being adjudicated.

“Despite the historical truth clearly outlined in the Arbitral Award of 1899 that determined the full, perfect, and final settlement of our border with Venezuela, we endured long and repeated provocations and aggression,” Ali said.

The ICJ is expected to rule on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

Guyana took the dispute to the ICJ in 2018, seeking confirmation that the award is legally valid. Venezuela had accepted the award for more than six decades before declaring it null in 1962 and reviving its claim to the territory.

The dispute is being addressed under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which provides mechanisms for resolving the controversy peacefully. After efforts to settle the matter through other means failed, the UN secretary-general referred the dispute to the ICJ.

Ali noted that Guyana had spent decades pursuing bilateral avenues for resolving the dispute, including through a mixed commission and the good offices process of the UN secretary-general.

“The matter was referred to the International Court of Justice by the Secretary-General, acting pursuant to the Geneva Agreement, and the Court twice pronounced on its jurisdiction to hear the matter,” Ali said.

He said Guyana had participated fully in the ICJ proceedings and encouraged Venezuela to do the same.

“In full respect for international law, Guyana participated and encouraged Venezuela to participate in the proceedings of the ICJ,” Ali said.

The hearings were completed in May 2026, and Ali urged Venezuela to accept the court’s forthcoming decision.

“Now that we have both participated in the hearings, which were completed in May 2026, we urge Venezuela to abide by the forthcoming ruling in accordance with their obligation under the UN Charter, as Guyana will do,” he said.

Ali said Guyana looked forward to improved relations with Venezuela once the court delivers its ruling.

“We look forward to a new era of neighborly relations in the interests of our peoples, the development of our countries, and the stability and prosperity of our region,” he said.

Venezuela renews Essequibo claim

Rodriguez made her appeal while wearing a brooch depicting the Essequibo region as part of Venezuela.

She told the General Assembly that Caracas was seeking to reaffirm what it considers its rights over Essequibo, a resource-rich territory that makes up roughly two-thirds of Guyana's land area.

The region covers about 61,600 square miles and lies west of the Essequibo River, which runs through Guyana. Venezuela claims the territory as its own.

Venezuela has previously linked the dispute to Guyana’s offshore oil discoveries. Caracas has alleged that Georgetown abandoned negotiations after major oil reserves were discovered offshore in 2015, including in waters Venezuela disputes.

Guyana maintains that the 1899 award definitively settled the border and has pursued the matter through the ICJ.

Ali calls for peaceful resolution of global conflicts

The Guyana-Venezuela dispute was one of several international conflicts addressed by Ali during his wide-ranging UNGA speech.

He argued that the international community needs greater capacity for diplomacy and peace rather than more destructive military capabilities.

“The world does not need more sophisticated instruments of destruction; it needs a more sophisticated capacity for peace,” Ali said.

He called for a “just and lasting solution” to the conflict in the Middle East, including an end to civilian suffering and recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

Ali also reiterated Guyana’s support for a two-state solution and called for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in Sudan.

On Cuba, he called for a peaceful, people-centered and development-focused solution and reiterated CARICOM’s offer to play a role in achieving that objective.

Addressing Haiti, Ali said resolving the country’s political, security and humanitarian challenges remained essential to achieving democracy, stability and prosperity.

“The sustained support of the international community through the provision of key financial and material resources is critical to realizing these objectives,” he said.

“Ultimately, the future of Haiti must be Haitian-led and Haitian-owned.”

Ali also used his address to call for reforms to the United Nations, arguing that the organization must strengthen its credibility and adapt to a changing global environment.

He cited climate change, energy insecurity, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, armed conflicts, geopolitical tensions, the crisis in the cost of living and widening inequality among the challenges facing the international community.

“Today, we confront a climate catastrophe, an energy crisis, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, armed conflicts, and geopolitical tensions, the horror of genocide, a spiraling cost of living crisis, a mountain debt crisis, widening inequalities within and among nations, and perhaps most troubling of all, a weakening of multilateralism itself,” Ali said.

Despite those challenges, he said the international community should focus on finding solutions rather than dwelling on the crises.

“For within every crisis lies a summons to solutions, within every disruption, an opportunity for renewal, and within every uncertainty, the possibility of shaping a better future,” Ali said.

“The possibilities before us are immense.”