At the UN’s top court, Venezuela vows to press ahead with referendum on future of disputed region

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Venezuela’s vice president has vowed that her country will press ahead with a referendum on the future of a large tract of mineral-rich territory that it claims in a long-running dispute with neighboring Guyana. Delcy Rodríguez spoke Wednesday at hearings into a request by Guyana for the United Nations’ top court to order a halt to parts of a consultative referendum in December. The vote centers on the future of the Essequibo region, which makes up some two-thirds of Guyana. Guyana’s legal team has called the referendum an “existential threat” designed to pave the way for the annexation of the region by Venezuela.