- US defence officials to visit Guyana next week
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has announced that personnel from the US Department of Defence will come in Guyana beginning next week, amid growing tensions between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country and Venezuela over sovereignty of the mineral and forest-rich county of Essequibo.
“We want to keep our country and borders peaceful, but we’ll do it in collaboration with our partners…The US Department of Defence will provide us with information next week. “We will have two teams visit Guyana, several other visits in December, and high-level presence representation from the Department of Defence here,” Jagdeo said at a news conference.
According to Jagdeo, Georgetown has never jeopardised peace since it relies primarily on diplomacy and international law, but Venezuela is aggressively spreading misinformation in an attempt to portray Guyana as the aggressor.
“We have never jeopardised the peace.” Venezuela has been an aggressive country that has threatened peace…We shall seek all viable options to defend our country. We are not an aggressive force…”However, we must also protect our country from the lies and misinformation campaigns,” he told reporters.
Jagdeo stated that Guyana had the world’s support in the current dispute, noting that the 1899 Arbitral Award and the 1966 Geneva Agreement concluded the decade-old dispute.
“We have global solidarity on this issue.” “CARICOM, the Commonwealth, the Organisation of American States, as well as the two main parties at the tribunal when it was established, the United States of America and the United Kingdom,” he continued.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delayed its decision last week on Guyana’s claim that it had evidence that Venezuela wants to take over the mineral and forest-rich county of Essequibo through a referendum on December 3.
Both Guyana and Venezuela made presentations to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during two days of hearings into the case relating to the 1899 Arbitral Award after Guyana, in its request, stated that the Venezuela government, through its National Electoral Council, had published a list of five questions that it intends to put before the people of Venezuela in a “Consultative Referendum” next month.
President Irfaan Ali visited numerous towns in Region One on Thursday, assuring locals that Guyana is committed to peacefully settling the lingering border conflict.
“We don’t take anything for granted…As a result, our overarching plan is nothing to be concerned about. There is nothing to be afraid about. “We are acting in accordance with international guidelines, and we believe Venezuela will not act irresponsibly,” Ali told residents of Kumaka in the Mabaruma sub-district.
He warned Guyanese nationals to be wary of Venezuelan misinformation aimed at instilling fear in the population.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Essequibo belongs to Guyana; there is no dispute about it…We must ensure that words emanating from Venezuela do not instill dread in us.
“Although we believe Venezuela will not act recklessly, we cannot be unprepared.” “We must ensure that we do everything within our own environment to secure our environment,” President Ali stated, adding, “you will see greater collaboration with our international partners in the coming days, weeks, and months.”
Meanwhile, the Guyana-based online newspaper Demerarawaves.com stated that Venezuelan forces appear to be withdrawing from near the disputed border, and numerous key Venezuelan officials’ X (previously Twitter) feeds had toned down their allusions to Essequibo County.
“A normally trustworthy government official stated, ‘they have been told to deescalate’ by a number of friendly nations.” “These countries have supported Guyana’s position that the territorial dispute with Venezuela must be resolved at the International Court of Justice, and that the December 3 referendum, as currently drafted, allows Venezuela to abandon that court and seize Guyana’s territory,” the journal claimed.
According to people who visited Imbotero in northwestern Guyana near the Venezuelan border on Thursday, military hardware, including tanks, and troops have left the area. Venezuelan military strength had been reduced to roughly 15 people who were regularly monitoring the area at the time.
“Venezuelan military personnel opposite other Guyanese locations were also said to be retreating,” according to the online magazine.
