About This Book
Against the background of the territorial controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, this book of Professor Héctor Faúndez Ledesma, examines the importance of territory in international law, and the means to acquiring it. It is possible that, invoking the same title, or even different titles, two States claim sovereignty over the same space; in such circumstances, it will be necessary to determine who is its legitimate sovereign. However, the guarantee of peaceful relations between neighbors is the existence of clearly defined borders, which is achieved with an internationally recognized boundary line. In the absence of historical borders, or borders agreed upon or accepted by States, it is up to international law to determine the extent of each one's authority. Without being a substitute for a territorial title, maps are one of the means of evidence that can be used to show this border; but, of course, not all maps show the same thing, nor do all maps have the same value.
