LatinNews Daily - 15 January 2024

Guyana: From 8-9 January US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Western Hemisphere Affairs Daniel Erikson visited Guyana, where he met with President Irfaan Ali. On social media, Ali stated the pair had discussed issues of mutual interest including “regional security, food security, climate change, information sharing, narcotics monitoring and disaster risk management”. During his visit, Erikson also met with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders to discuss the US defence and security partnership with Guyana and regional partners. According to the US embassy in Guyana, the visit underscored “the continued importance the US places on the US-Guyana bilateral defence and security partnership in support of regional stability”, as well as signalling “the importance of the bilateral defence and security partnership as the GDF continues to grow, in the short-term with robust military to military engagements, and in the long-term as the nation continues to modernise its defence institutions”. The visit comes as tensions are running high between Guyana and neighbouring Venezuela following the 3 December referendum in Venezuela in which voters expressed support for annexing the disputed Essequibo region and the subsequent deployment by Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro of soldiers, aircraft and ships, among other equipment, to conduct exercises near the disputed area. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yván Gil criticised Guyana’s “military association with the US” in a social media post on 10 January, stating it was creating threats for the stability of the region which “must be cleared in a decisive manner”.

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