World Court orders Venezuela to refrain from action in border dispute with Guyana

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands August 22, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Judges at the World Court on Friday ordered Venezuela to refrain from taking any action that would alter the situation on the ground in a potentially oil-rich territory that is the subject of a border dispute with Guyana, which controls the area.

The court did not expressly forbid Venezuela to hold a planned Dec. 3 referendum over its rights to the region around the Esequibo river, the subject of the long-running border dispute, as Guyana has requested.