Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter a few hours before the arrival in Guyana, from Suriname of US Secretary of State Mr Mike Pompeo. I have had the opportunity to read the special briefing given to US media by an official from the Office of the Spokesperson on the Secretary of State’s visit to regional countries, Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia. I also paid attention to the questions asked by representatives of the media and the responses given by the senior State Department official.
As expected the briefing was the usual diplomatic utterance, skillfully crafted not to reveal the main reason for the visit to the region. This is the practice utilised more often than not when dealing with sensitive national security matters. And in relation to Guyana and the concerns expressed by a broad cross-section of political and civic society forces on the country getting entangled in US military actions in Venezuela. The spokesperson, even when pressed by a reporter, stuck to the official script, that is, the non-military aspects such as economics, democracy, coronavirus, refugees from Venezuela and drug-fighting. It is obvious that all the above policy initiatives the US can promote without a visit by the Secretary of State to the region more so at the potential end of his government’s tenure in the face of elections in December. It is hard to believe that Mr Pompeo is in the region solely for a non-military agenda and that Venezuela is not the target.
All the official reasons given for the visit to the region taken collectively or individually will not generate enough political currency to positively impact the outcome of the Presidential elections in favour of Donald Trump, given his showing in the polls. Political logic points to the need for something dramatic such as US policy victory in Venezuela which can only be achieved by the use of the military, either in a hot war or confronting Venezuela and its Russian allies a formattable/ creditable US military threat to force a solution along the lines announced by the US government – an internal /regional solution. This objective in my view still stands as the more plausible reason for Pompeo’s visit and in this regard, Guyana’s playing a role in some way is on the unofficial agenda. Therefore the nation should not be lured into premature comfort.
Reading the US government’s position on Venezuela over time it is clear that for the Trump administration regime change is the name of the game. Significant US naval assets have been recently bene deployed in the Caribbean Sea in the vicinity of Venezuela under the guise of fighting the narcotics trade which the US claims is coming from Venezuela, which is using the money to finance the Maduro regime. We have since seen American warships intercepting an Iran oil cargo heading for Venezuela under the questionable justification of enforcing the US economy/financial embargo on that country. In the official State Department briefing, the Official, directly and indirectly, linked the refugees, drugs, and the Covid-19 crisis in the region to the situation in Venezuela. This situation is described as a threat to US national security and hemispheric security. Here lies the US justification for regime change in Venezuela with its facilitation of the Russian and Chinese presence in the American “Back yard”.
I end by restating that the State Department official’s briefing to the US media is the customary diplomatic utterances often intended to mask the real motive behind a major US strategic policy initiative when it has to do with pending US military actions. Until the conclusion of the US Presidential elections, Guyana’s national security interest is at risk.
Yours faithfully,
Tacuma Ogunseye
