Venezuela has filed a new brief with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, expanding the historical and legal evidence it says underpins its sovereignty over the 160,000-square-kilometre Essequibo region administered by neighbouring Guyana. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez delivered the document on 11 August, arguing that the material "amplifies the historical truth" of Caracas’s position and reiterating that the 1966 Geneva Agreement, not the ICJ, is the only valid mechanism for settling the century-old border dispute. Hours after the submission, government spokespeople—including Rodríguez, National Assembly chief Jorge Rodríguez and officials from the electoral authority and Supreme Court—said Venezuela "will not recognise any judgment" the court may render on the case. The declarations follow a series of communiqués from the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela and allied institutions asserting that Caracas will defend its territorial claim by all political and legal means. The legal manoeuvre occurs amid heightened tensions with Washington, which last week doubled to US$50 million the reward it offers for information leading to President Nicolás Maduro’s arrest. Thousands of government supporters marched in Caracas and several provincial capitals on Monday in what authorities billed as an "anti-imperialist mobilisation" to reject the U.S. measure. From Bogotá, Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned that any U.S. military action in Venezuela carried out without regional approval would constitute an "aggression against Latin America and the Caribbean," remarks echoed by Bolivia and Honduras as they criticised Washington’s stance.