politics
Venezuela Rejects Trump's Suggestion It Become 51st U.S. State
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez told the International Court of Justice on Monday that Venezuela has no intention of becoming a U.S. state after President Trump said he was seriously considering the idea. Rodríguez was in The Hague for the final day of hearings on Venezuela's long-running territorial dispute with Guyana over the oil-rich Essequibo region. She said Venezuelan and U.S.
May 10, 5:00 PM·2m read52 sources
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Los Angeles TimesAudio version
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Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez rejected any notion that her country would become the 51st U.S. state after President Trump said Monday he was seriously considering the move. Rodríguez made the remarks at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where hearings concluded in a century-old border dispute with neighboring Guyana over the mineral- and oil-rich Essequibo region.
Rodríguez told journalists that Venezuela would continue to defend its integrity, sovereignty, independence and history. "We are not a colony, but a free country," she added. She also said Venezuelan and U.S.
officials have been in touch and are working on cooperation and understanding. Trump made the comment about Venezuela during an interview with Fox News that aired Monday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has previously made similar remarks about Canada. Before addressing Trump's statement, Rodríguez defended Venezuela's claim to the 62,000-square-mile Essequibo territory, which comprises two-thirds of Guyana. The area is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and sits near massive offshore oil deposits currently producing an average of 900,000 barrels a day.
That output is close to Venezuela's daily production of about 1 million barrels. Venezuela has considered Essequibo its own since the Spanish colonial period. An 1899 arbitration decision by Britain, Russia and the United States drew the border largely in favor of Guyana.
Venezuela argues a 1966 Geneva agreement to resolve the dispute nullified the 19th-century arbitration. In 2018, after ExxonMobil announced a significant oil discovery off the Essequibo coast, Guyana asked the International Court of Justice to uphold the 1899 ruling. The court is expected to take months to issue a final ruling.
Rodríguez told the judges that political negotiations, not a judicial decision, will resolve the dispute. She accused Guyana of undermining the 1966 agreement with its "opportunistic" decision to seek a court ruling, which she said coincided with the 2015 oil discovery.
