The Venezuelan government on Friday said "categorically" rejected an order from the UN's top court to suspend elections in the oil-rich Essequibo region it is contesting with neighboring Guyana.
Venezuela goes to the polls on May 25 to elect new governors of states, in which it has included Essequibom, a region that has been administered by Guyana for over a century.
The International Court of Justice order has not been officially published yet, but was shared by Guyana's president on Thursday.
According to the order, Venezuela must "refrain from holding elections or preparing to hold them in this disputed territory."
The government in Caracas said in a statement Friday that it "does not and will never recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice nor will it abide by any decision emanating from it."
"Nothing in international law allows the International Court of Justice to interfere in matters that are the exclusive domain of Venezuelan domestic law, nor to seek to prohibit a sovereign act," the statement read.
In its petition to the ICJ, Guyana had said that the elections would cause "irreparable harm" to the Essequibo region, which makes up two-thirds of its territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens.
Guyana, a small English-speaking former British and Dutch colony, insists Essequibo's frontiers were determined by an arbitration panel in 1899.
But Venezuela claims the Essequibo River to the region's east forms a natural border recognized as far back as 1777.
The long-running squabble was revived in 2015 after US energy giant ExxonMobil discovered huge crude reserves in Essequibo and reached fever pitch in 2023 when Guyana started auctioning off oil blocks in the region.
Venezuela goes to the polls on May 25 to elect new governors of states, in which it has included Essequibom, a region that has been administered by Guyana for over a century.
The International Court of Justice order has not been officially published yet, but was shared by Guyana's president on Thursday.
According to the order, Venezuela must "refrain from holding elections or preparing to hold them in this disputed territory."
The government in Caracas said in a statement Friday that it "does not and will never recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice nor will it abide by any decision emanating from it."
"Nothing in international law allows the International Court of Justice to interfere in matters that are the exclusive domain of Venezuelan domestic law, nor to seek to prohibit a sovereign act," the statement read.
In its petition to the ICJ, Guyana had said that the elections would cause "irreparable harm" to the Essequibo region, which makes up two-thirds of its territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens.
Guyana, a small English-speaking former British and Dutch colony, insists Essequibo's frontiers were determined by an arbitration panel in 1899.
But Venezuela claims the Essequibo River to the region's east forms a natural border recognized as far back as 1777.
The long-running squabble was revived in 2015 after US energy giant ExxonMobil discovered huge crude reserves in Essequibo and reached fever pitch in 2023 when Guyana started auctioning off oil blocks in the region.
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