BORDER SECURITY AND OIL WAR IN THE LATIN AMERICAN/CARIBBEAN REGION: A CASE STUDY OF THE GUYANA/VENEZUELA DISPUTE.

This article explores the recent developments in the ongoing dispute between Guyana and Venezuela which has intensified as a result of the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899 about the frontier between then British Guiana and Venezuela is null and void. The Essequibo region is a disputed territory of 61,650 square miles (159,500 km²) west of the Essequibo River. It is claimed by both Guyana and Venezuela, but it has been administered and controlled by Guyana since the 1899 Paris Arbitral Award. The boundary dispute was inherited from the colonial powers (Spain in the case of Venezuela, and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in the case of Guyana) and has been complicated by the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966. The author analyses the impact of this dispute and draws attention to the disregard of international law and to the infringement of territorial sovereignty and integrity by one state on another. The purpose of the paper is to chronicle the facts and circumstances relating to this dispute with the specific intent of examining why Venezuela engaged in actions contrary to the ICJ ruling of December 1,2023 and what are some of the possible responses to these actions taken by the current Venezuelan government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]