The United Nations’ top court on Friday ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana’s control over a disputed territory, but did not specifically ban it from holding a referendum Sunday on the territory’s future.
Guyana had asked the International Court of Justice to order a halt to the planned referendum. The court order did not refer to the vote, but it ruled that Venezuela must “refrain from taking any action which would modify that situation that currently prevails” in the disputed Essequibo region, which makes up some two-thirds of Guyana.
