Guyana shopping for military hardware

With Venezuela again stepping up its decades-old territorial claim to Guyana’s, local authorities are shopping around the world for military hardware to improve the country’s domain awareness, spending hundreds of millions of dollars from its growing offshore oil revenues to give the country the ability to keep an eye on its western neighbor.

Authorities last week made much of an agreement they signed with France to acquire a brand new, high technology offshore military patrol vessel, capable of sailing the high seas, monitoring waters that Venezuela claims as its own and moving around military personnel quickly in the event of a threat.

The new vessel will cost $42 million. The agreement was signed in Guyana just weeks after Venezuela recently promulgated a law annexing Guyana’s mineral and oil-rich western Essequibo region which it has claimed for decades as its own. The promulgation followed an early controversial December referendum to incorporate the region as Venezuela’s. The newly annexed Guyanese territory will now be referred to as Guayana Esequiba.

The planned acquisition of the French vessel comes as Guyana is awaiting the delivery of two metal shark military vessels from the US that will arrive in the coming weeks. The local military has already ordered four medium range helicopters from Bell Corporation of Texas, a number of long range drones and night vision equipment among other hardware from the US as well.

And just last week, two 19-seater Dornier 228 fixed wing aircraft arrived from India to join the growing fleet of the Guyana Defence Force as tensions between Guyana and Venezuela linger amid the recent annexation of the Essequibo and the creation of the new state. President Irfaan Ali has said that efforts to acquire other equipment to boost the capability of the military are ongoing. Initial spending on this face is around $201 million.

“As we grow, the threats are going to become more sophisticated,” Ali said recently. “While we are a peaceful state, no one should underestimate our resolve at protecting our territory and safeguarding national sovereignty. Let not our peaceful intent be mistaken for weakness.  As I said recently, we will not bend to threats nor cower in the face of intimidation,” Ali told a recent military officers conference.

Professor Wazir Mohamed of Indiana East University says Guyana has to be prepared for what might and could be.

“The threat of military aggression requires in any circumstance internal preparation or show of the possibility and preparedness for adequate defense of the country. Preparedness for adequate defense requires building and equipping the military which is vital for national and civil defense. But modernizing, building, and equipping the military is not only important for defense against outside military aggressors-the modern military should be tasked and be prepared to meet the challenges of disasters (environmental and climate related)-the threat posed to peaceful communities by the traffic of illicit drugs (cocaine, fentanyl, and other such synthetic substances)-and be integral in the development aspirations of all the peoples of Guyana,” he said. “Venezuela should not assume that because of its size and military capability, that they will not be met with total and stout resistance from the people of Guyana.”

The rebuilding of the military comes as a string of very senior western and American government officials have visited the country in recent months. The list includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA Director William. J. Burns last month, US Southern Military Commander Gen. Laura Richardson, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere Daniel P. Erikson and Western Hemisphere senior director Juan González among others. French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné has also come calling, while the British has sent David Rutley, its minister of the Americas the Americas, Caribbean and Overseas Territories for high level talks as he reiterated unwavering support for Guyana.

The agreement with the French also came in the same week when Venezuela filed its legal defense of its claims to the Essequibo at the World Court in The Netherlands, beating the court by just a few hours.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodrigues criticized the French acquisition in a social media posting this week, noting that the military build-up is part of a plot with the US and western nations to ferment instability in Latin America. President Nicolas Maduro has also accused the US of building military bases in Guyana, charges Washington has denied.

“The false victim Guyana buys an ocean patrol vessel from a French company. Guyana, together with the United States, its Western partners and its former colonial master, constitute a threat to the peace of our region. Venezuela will continue to monitor these actions by Guyana and will persist on the path of international legality,” Rordigues said, the same week Guyana has asked the United Nations Security Council to discuss Venezuelan threats at a closed-door session in New York.