The ongoing threat to Guyana’s sovereignty by Venezuela was raised at the Guiana Shield conference held here this week.
At a press conference yesterday at Guyana Defence Force Headquarters, Camp Ayanganna, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn was asked by Stabroek News if the matter of Venezuela’s threat to this country had been raised.
Benn in reply underscored the significance of discussions, particularly regarding the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy. “The sovereign issues were all deliberated on and explored”, he said, adding that unequivocal support for Guyana was expressed by the attending nations.
Notable figures at yesterday’s press conference included Ministerial representatives from France, a military attaché from Brazil, Suriname’s Defence Minister Krishnakoemarie Mathoera , and Guyana’s Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan.
In recent months, Venezuela has stepped up its aggressive conduct in relation to its claim to Guyana’s county of Essequibo in acts which have been seen as posing a threat to the larger Guianas.
Yesterday’s press conference followed the signing on Monday by Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana of a security Common Master Plan.
A release on Monday from the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the signing ceremony, which took place after a day of intensive dialogue among Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil, marks a key step towards enhancing cooperation and addressing shared security challenges.
“The dialogue highlighted the critical importance of a unified approach to understanding the regional strategic defence and security environment. Emphasis was placed on collaborative efforts to combat security threats and address challenges affecting the populations, territories, maritime space, and interests of the countries.”, the release added.
During his opening remarks yesterday, Benn emphasized the conference’s primary objective: advancing strategic dialogue within the Guiana Shield region. This marked the third iteration of such deliberations, with Guyana hosting for the first time. Benn lauded the event’s success, citing substantial discussions, engagements, and proposals focused on a common security master plan for the Guiana Shield.
Benn stated: “We had discussions to advance again the issue of strategic dialogue in the Guiana Shield… I am pleased to say that it has gone very well… our discussions focused principally on not only identifying the security matters but how developments in the region in our countries… impact on the security architecture… and also the ongoing issues with protection of the environment with illegal mining and logging.”
The conference served as a platform to address shared security challenges, including social and economic progress, natural resource utilization, infrastructure development, and environmental protection. Discussions centred on enhancing collaborative efforts, particularly in maritime surveillance and coastal protection, with a focus on combating illegal mining and logging.
Benn stressed the importance of joint patrols and the exchange of experiences to effectively respond to evolving security threats within the region. Elaborating on the implementation of the security master plan, Benn emphasized its role in addressing challenges, identifying opportunities and strategizing to mitigate risks.
He stated, “The security master plan is intended to confront the challenges and map out the opportunities and strategies and identify the risk along with the assets and the resources from our various partners as to how we could collaborate and mitigate and defend and improve on the situation.”
Suriname’s Defence Minister, Mathoera emphasized the imperative of cross-border security cooperation in addressing contemporary security challenges.
Mathoera stated, “Security has no borders; it is beyond borders… All the challenges that we are facing from security in the maritime, illegal trafficking, group-related crimes, and cybersecurity are beyond borders.” She underscored the interconnectedness of security threats and their impact on the future, development, stability, and prosperity of participating nations.
Asserting the necessity of collective action, Minister Mathoera highlighted the limitations of individual nations in confronting these multifaceted challenges alone. She stressed the importance of fostering partnerships and learning from each other to better prepare for disasters and other security threats.
Mathoera reiterated the aim of the dialogue: “How can we have joint actions, joint operations to tackle these challenges that we have?”
Brigadier Khan, in his address to the media said “the strategic dialogue of the Guiana Shield is a perfect example of recognizing the geography as a strategic plus. The Guiana shield is approximately 270 million and comprises just about 5 countries that share the geographic space”.
He added: “we have the opportunity now to work in smaller groups in specific areas to generate solutions”, adding that the “values that we believe in as democratic countries we drawn together because of the values we hold so dear”.
The French delegation shared that they assessed the issues that they all face as a collective reiterating that the core of the dialogue was defence and security issues.
Brazil was an observer at the conference this year but Benn proposed that Brazil become a full member in the strategic dialogue for the Guiana Shield.
