Dear Editor,
It is time that our leaders start leading and begin to prepare the people of Guyana to the fact that it is no longer if Venezuela will invade our territorial space, but when. Every move that has been made by Venezuela to date, clearly shows that this regime that is preparing to take the Essequibo by force.
The troop build-up in the Cuyuni -Wenamu area; the bridge from the Venezuelan mainland to the island of Ankoko; the naming of an Army General as Governor of Essequibo; an elections in Essequibo to elect a Governor; attacking our soldiers in the Cuyuni River; invading our maritime space in defiance of international law; overflights of our territory by Venezuelan fighter jets and the constant aggressive, hostile and pugnacious utterances of Nicolas Maduro towards the President and people of Guyana. Make no mistake, this is not the behaviour of a friendly neighbour; this is the behaviour of a bully who thinks he has the ability to ‘beat -up’ the lil kid next door. Venezuela’s recent invasion of Guyana’s EEZ was not based on international law but on sheer naval power. It was a show of force.
Unfortunately, we keep hearing from our leaders and commentators this narrative that once attacked by Venezuela, someone will come to our rescue…. We need to stop this false narrative and start the hard work of preparing our people to defend Guyana. The Americans will not be coming! We must stop fooling ourselves that the US Southern Command or some great regional power will deploy forces in the event of Venezuelan aggression; it will not happen. We have to stop ordering our men and women in uniform to ‘shoot and scoot’ (shoot and run) and keep shooting and running “until help arrives…” This is not how you defend your country! This is not how you win! Yes, diplomacy must remain our first line of defence, but diplomacy is nothing without a credible military option.
Our Constitution orders every Guyanese to defend Guyana. It is therefore the responsibility of our government to immediately begin educating and training our population, getting us ready to defend Guyana. We have been here before and we did not flinch, instead, we formed the Guyana Peoples Militia and sent a clear message to Venezuelan President Luis Herrera that we were small; we did not have a large, sophisticated military but we had guts, and we were going to fight for every blade of grass. We coined the phrase ‘every citizen a soldier’. The official response was not ‘shoot and scoot’, the leaders then did not place our hopes on anyone coming to rescue us, instead they began mobilizing, training and equipping the civilian population to carry out defence duties. The GPM provided a framework on which mass preparation for emergencies could be carried out during a period similar to the one we are currently in, and to support the GDF in all of its functions; if and when called on to do so.
Guyana is ours to defend and we must begin the hard work that is necessary to defend this dear land of ours. I would urge our leaders to act now before it is too late. Rear Admiral Dr. Gary Best writing in the Village Voice got it right when he said; “Guyana has additional financial resources to adequately beef up its military to better defend its borders. Living frontiers, total national defence and defence in depth are solutions to increasing border defence. Our national intelligence units must probe and identify Venezuelan forward elements in Guyana and have them deported. A nation that puts all its resources, human and material, against an enemy puts itself in a position to win”.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Archer
