evidence: The Gulf of Venezuela, which is also known as Golfo De Venezuela in Spanish, is a kidney-shaped embayment situated at the northwestern tip of South America. It is an inlet of the Caribbean Sea in Columbia and Venezuela. The Gulf of Venezuela separates the Guajira Peninsula to the west which is partly under Venezuelan Sovereignty and partly under Colombian Sovereignty, and the Paraguana Peninsula to the east which is under the sovereignty of Venezuela. It is at the northernmost boundary of both countries. [...] The Gulf extends 75 miles from north to south and reaches a maximum width from west to east of 150 miles. It is connected to Lake Maracaibo which is found to the south by the Tablazo Bay as well as a channel that is 35 feet deep near the city of Maracaibo. Little to no cultivation is carried out in the surrounding lowlands, and it mainly serves as a shipping route to the Lake Maracaibo petroleum-producing region. [...] There has been a longstanding dispute between Venezuela and Columbia over the Gulf of Venezuela. The dispute resurfaced recently when President Nicolas Maduro established the area as an insular zone of constitutive defense through a decree. In 1987, the dispute nearly led to a military conflict between the two nations when Colombia positioned two Corvettes in the disputed waters, and Venezuela sent troops and F-16 warplanes to the area. The areas in dispute are relatively small in size, but the possibility of oil deposits in the area makes it an area of great importance to both countries.