The Latest Breaking News from ICJ

The long-running dispute over Essequibo, which comprises some two-thirds of Guyanese territory, has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered oil there in 2015.

Guyana and Venezuela agreed Wednesday to "keep the communication channels open" in a fast-worsening feud over a disputed, oil-rich region as Brazil reinforced troops on its northern border with the neighbors.

About 10.5 million of Venezuela's 20.7 million eligible voters took part in the consultation

Disputed territory of Essequibo is larger than Greece, rich in minerals and gives access to part of the Atlantic boasting oil in commercial quantities

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is organising a referendum on Sunday to decide whether to create a new state in the Essequibo territory, an area currently under the control of neighbouring Guyana. Does Caracas have the means for its territorial ambitions, or is it just political grandstanding?

Even though the voting is not binding, tensions are running high between the countries given the rhetoric by Maduro's government

Venezuela on Sunday will hold a referendum that it hopes will strengthen its century-old claim to the oil-rich Essequibo territory controlled by neighboring Guyana.

Venezuela said Friday it would press ahead with a weekend referendum over the fate of an oil-rich region claimed by itself and Guyana even as the UN's top court urged restraint in the worsening row.

A decades-old dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo territory reaches a new, potentially escalatory chapter on Sunday as Venezuela holds a referendum regarding the Guyana-controlled region.