With U.S. help, Guyana expands military installations in Essequibo

Marcos Salgado

A year after the meeting between the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro and Guyana, Irfaan Ali in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which de-escalated -at least temporarily- the confrontation between them over the dispute for the extensive territory of the Essequiba Guiana, the conflict is escalating again with the presence of a third party, if not the United States.

Venezuela claimed on Tuesday its rejection “categorically and forcefully” to the recent joint actions carried out between the U.S. Southern Command and the Government of Guyana, regarding the participation of SOUTHCOM in the renovation of Guyanese military installations, one of them in the disputed territory and a few meters away from a Venezuelan base on the Cuyuní River. .

Satellite image of Anacoco Island, with the installation of the Bolivarian National Guard. Below, marked in red, is the airstrip refurbished by the United States. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry denounced in a communiqué that this is a “provocation” on the part of Guyana, which attempts “against regional stability and undermines the principles of international law, and constitutes a threat to regional peace, contrary to the spirit of the Geneva Agreement of 1966”

Described as “unacceptable” the consolidation of U.S. military installations in Guyanese territory, including the military use of the Brigadier Gary Beaton Airfield, located in Guayana Esequiba, a territory under claim by Venezuela, as “a threat to regional peace”. la.

Caracas stressed that in the context of the territorial dispute it maintains with Guyana, the “expansion of naval and airport stations for military use” by the United States hinders the “political resolution” of the dispute. ndo.

A year since Argyle

On December 15, 2023, Presidents Maduro and Ali met in Argyle, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and agreed on a joint declaration “For Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela”, an eleven-point document in which both countries commit themselves to maintain dialogue and peace to resolve the dispute over Guyana and Venezuela. sequiba.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Brazil and several CARICOM prime ministers, making clear the region’s interest that the conflict should not continue.

In the Argye declaration, both presidents pledged not to threaten or use force against each other in connection with the dispute between the two nations and agreed that any dispute between the states will be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement of February 17, 1966, which Venezuela claims as the mechanism for resolving the dispute, and Guyana. The agreement is rejected by Guyana.

Maduro and Ali also made a commitment to pursue good neighborliness and brotherhood between Latin America and the Caribbean, to continue dialogue on any other pending issues of mutual importance to the two countries, and to refrain, whether in word or deed, from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from any dispute. between them.

And although Venezuela officially incorporated the territory of Essequiba Guyana to its map and appointed military authorities for the area, who dispatch from Tumeremo, in the neighboring state of Bolivar, and incorporated specific budget items for the region in this year’s budget, it complied with the Argyle agreement and de-escalated the dispute

While Guyana was leaning back on its alliance with the United States, the dispute was not over. Less than a month after Argyle, the U.S. government sent Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere Daniel P. Erikson. “This visit to Guyana underscores the continued importance the United States attaches to the U.S.-Guyana bilateral defense and security partnership in support of regional stability,” the U.S. Embassy in
Georgetown.

In March 2024, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington visited the Guyanese coasts as part of a tour of the Southern Cone, and on that occasion, US warplanes even flew over Guyanese territory, which was denounced by the military authorities.

“Our Integral Aerospace Defense System remains activated in the face of any attempt to violate Venezuelan geographic space, including our Essequibo Territory, Alert!
Padrino López.

Military presence SOUTHCOM

Already in September 2023, military personnel from the First Security Forces Assistance Brigade (SFAB) of the U.S. Army traveled to Guyana to work with the Defense Force “to increase readiness through integration at the tactical and operational level”, as indicated by the Venezuelan Minister of Defense.

It is now known that thanks to the defense and security partnership agreement signed between the Guyana Defense Force and the U.S. Southern Command, the Americans have completed the expansion of a river station of the GDF Coast Guard, “which brings to four the number of military installations that have been upgraded during 2024 to be used by the different Guyanese military and security services”, according to the specialized site defensa.com.

In addition to the coastal military expansion, the U.S. also built a new hangar and expanded the existing facilities of the Defense Force Air Wing located at Georgetown International Airport, in addition to “a network of radio repeater stations and the Jungle Amphibious Training School”, according to the Southern Command is same media outlet.

Defensa.com also warns that on Thursday, November 28, the Brigadier Gary Beaton Airfield was reopened at the Venezuelan military base in Georgetown. This is in front of the Venezuelan military base of Anacoco, on the Cuyuní river, which marks the area in that sector.

The newly extended runway will have a length of 2100 feet, which allows the operation of light single or twin-engine piston or piston-powered aircraft. Venezuela claims that this expansion of facilities in the disputed territory is to adapt the facilities for its own operations.

The prevention is logical, and contravenes the Argyle agreement of What follows, for now, are only question marks, but one cannot help but relate this news of the active U.S. military presence in Guyana to a possible hardening of the U.S. stance against the Venezuelan government with Donald Trump in the
White House.

With the border with Colombia cancelled for destabilizing plans, Venezuela’s eastern border remains, with Guyana in the Essequibo territory, with the devil in the corner.