GEORGETOWN – Guyana assured Venezuela that there is no plan for USA establish a military base in the South American country and has not made a formal request for one, a Guyanese official said Thursday.
Guyana Attorney General Anil Nandlall said that Nicolas Maduro remains “convinced that Guyana could host” a American military base. He added that Maduro raised the issue when he attended an emergency mediation meeting in San Vicente last month to talk about the territorial dispute with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.
”(Ali) reiterated that this is not the case, but we will encourage cooperation with our allies in defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Nandlall said.
Nandlall and other officials in Guyana have tried to moderate tensions with Venezuela over a disputed region known as Essequiborich in oil and minerals, which currently represents two-thirds of Guyana and which Venezuela claims as its own.
“The United States has not approached us about establishing a military base in Guyana,” said Guyanese Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, adding that the government does not carry out public policies at press conferences.
Guyana shields itself against Venezuelan claim
On Wednesday, the Guyana government reported that it is seeking US help to improve its defense capabilities amid fears that Venezuela takes over the Essequibo. That same day, Daniel P. Erikson, US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere, was in Guyana.
Negotiations ended Tuesday night, and Erikson noted that The US will help Guyana’s military forces be more organized and better equipped in the coming months. He did not provide further details.
The official also said that security forces and specialized training teams that have visited Guyana in the last year will continue to do so in 2024.
Erikson told reporters that Guyana is seeking to modernize its defense capabilities, and that part of the talks focused on reach and capability, as well as cybersecurity.
“One thing of great interest to us is to ensure that as Guyana seeks to increase its defense capabilities, it does so through a plan that is strategic, nested in its overall defense institutions, and sustainable over time,” Erikson said. .
He described the talks with Guyanese officials as productive and said the US is aware of the steps needed to improve defense capabilities.
“We look forward to working with them, especially delving deeper into information sharing,” he said. “We recognize that Guyana is at an inflection point in terms of its own economic development, in terms of the regional role that it is capable of playing, and so we want to ensure that our defense relationship with Guyana continues to live up to the times as the situation in Guyana continues to evolve,” the US official said.
Erikson was in Guyana as the long-standing dispute deepens and after Venezuela held a referendum in December to claim sovereignty over the area.
Georgetown and Caracas agreed to refrain from using force, but the dispute continues: Venezuela insists that the Essequibo It was part of its territory during the Spanish colonial period and that a 1966 agreement (Geneva Agreement) annulled a border drawn in 1899 by international arbitrators.
He Geneva Agreement established the mechanisms to initiate a process of review, discussion and search for satisfactory solutions to the controversy over the Essequibo territory.
Source: With information from AP / Europa Press
