Venezuela to ask UN to mediate Guyana border dispute

Venezuela said Friday it would ask the United Nations to help resolve a border dispute with Guyana over an area where a new oil discovery has been made. The country will send a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requesting that a formal mediator be appointed, according to Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez. Venezuela long has claimed a significant chunk of Guyana, including an offshore area where the Exxon Mobil Corp. recently announced it made a significant oil discovery. Venezuela, which has the world's largest oil reserves, issued a decree soon after that announcement extending its territorial claims farther out into the Atlantic to encompass the area where the discovery was made. More…