the decades-old border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela. “Whichever way they go, you’re still going to have tensions,” Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves, who serves as an interlocutor, based on the Argyle Agreement signed between the two countries here in December 2023, said that the ICJ may deliver its judgment sometime later this year or early next year. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m not too up-to-speed on the progress of the litigation, and I know the ICJ will take some time to write the judgment and so forth because they have had hearings already,” Gonsalves said as he addressed the latest dispute between the two countries on his weekly radio programme.

Last weekend, Guyana alerted the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the international community, to the presence of a Venezuelan naval vessel that remained near its oil assets for about four hours. Since then, the United States, France, CARICOM, the Commonwealth as well as the Organization of American States (OAS) have all called on Venezuela to not engage in further provocation by threatening ExxonMobil’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.