On Monday morning, May 4 2026, a shooting incident on the disputed Guyana-Venezuela border left a member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) wounded, adding new tension to a long-running territorial dispute that is currently being reviewed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
According to an official statement released by the GDF, the attack took place at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time in the Black Water area, where a GDF boat patrol was conducting an escort mission for three civilian vessels carrying personnel and cargo traveling from Makapa to Eteringbang. Unidentified attackers opened fire on the convoy, striking the deployed soldier twice in the right leg. Military medics quickly stabilized the injured service member, who is now being evacuated to the capital city of Georgetown to receive advanced medical care.
After the ambush, the GDF patrol engaged the attackers in return fire and successfully maneuvered the entire civilian convoy out of the high-risk zone to safety. To date, the GDF has not confirmed whether the individuals who opened fire were Venezuelan security forces or armed civilians operating from the Venezuelan side of the border. However, a senior unnamed GDF officer noted in an off-the-record comment that Venezuelan authorities must be aware of the armed groups operating in the area, which uses the dense jungle along the Cuyuni River as cover to launch attacks against Guyanese personnel. “We are being attacked from the Venezuelan side of the Cuyuni by a group who uses the jungle as cover from sight and fire. The Venezuelan authorities can not be unaware of this situation,” the senior officer stated.
This shooting is not an isolated event: the GDF confirmed that prior attacks targeting Guyanese soldiers have occurred in the same border region in previous months and years. The timing of Monday’s incident coincides with the opening of public hearings at the ICJ focused on the substantive merits of the territorial dispute between the two South American nations. At the core of the dispute is the legal validity of the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award, which originally established the current land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.
In the aftermath of the attack, the GDF reaffirmed its commitment to securing the country’s western border. “The Force remains fully committed to the protection of its personnel and the safeguarding of Guyana’s territorial integrity,” the statement read, adding that the military will maintain a robust, active operational presence across the entire border region moving forward.