FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference after his meeting with European accredited diplomatic teams to Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela November 14, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello

CARACAS/GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - Venezuela on Wednesday panned a decision by the United Nations to refer a century-old border dispute with Guyana to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Guyana is a former British colony of around 750,000 people on the northeastern shoulder of South America.

The contended English-speaking area, which encompasses two-thirds of western Guyana and effectively functions as part of the small nation, is at the heart of the longstanding dispute, revived in recent years after an oil discovery off its shores.

The area is often denoted on Venezuelan maps as a “reclamation zone.”

“The Government of Venezuela ... reiterates its willingness to defend the territorial integrity of our homeland,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said, reading from a statement.

However, Guyana welcomed the decision, saying the ICJ was “the appropriate forum for the peaceful and definitive settlement of the controversy.”

“Guyana remains confident in the correctness of its case,” said President David Granger in a speech on Wednesday.