THE HAGUE – The United Nations’ highest court ruled Friday that it will intervene to settle a decades-old border dispute between South American neighbors Guyana and Venezuela.The decision by the International Court of Justice means it will now move to judge the merits of the case, which will likely take months or years.
Venezuela had argued that the world court did not have jurisdiction and refused to participate in legal arguments on the issue held earlier this year.The territorial dispute dates back to 1899 and an arbitration award by an international tribunal that drew the border between the two South American nations largely to the favor of Guyana, which was then a British colony.