GUYANA | Repelling Venezuelan Increasing Aggression Requires Getting Our House In Order Says Roysdale Forde

GEORGETOWN,  Guyana, March 6, 2025 - Guyanese must remain uncompromising in response to Venezuelan escalating aggression-we are a nation of laws. 

The border controversy before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) remains the viable path by which we shall pursue redress, with every citizen united in will, purpose and action. 

All political parties, religious organisations, trade unions, civil society and citizen-home or abroad- must unite against Venezuela’s bullyism and aggression that has been threatening our territorial integrity.

However, we as a nation must get our house in order. Doing this requires boldly and uncompromisingly addressing some very urgent housekeeping matters, for to leave them unattended, would facilitate and aid the evil intentions of the enemies of our state. 

These issues include: the practice of the politics of exclusion by the government, the insufficient response of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) regime to the aggressive push by Venezuela against our territorial integrity, the under-resourcing of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). 

One of the first issues is the shoddy and disrespectful manner this PPP/C government treats the opposition and other minorities.

At the last national flag raising event to make our 55th as a Republic, the incumbent regime did not invite the main parliamentary Opposition to attend or participate. 

Subsequently, it tendered an apology, through the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Mr. Charles Ramson Jr.  No government can truly make a claim to espousing oneness, unity and inclusiveness and exclude others. This is inexcusable.

This is the very same regime when confronted by an external foe remembers the value of the Opposition in governance, and the importance of a united front in protecting and defending Guyana’s territorial integrity. 

Such displays must move beyond cosmetic to substantial. The Opposition is not without substantial influence as evidenced by its representation of the interest of almost half the society, including many of our brave men and women in uniform.

Let us talk about the well-being of our uniformed comrades. We expect our soldiers to hold the frontline and protect our borders, in the event Venezuela elevates its aggression against Guyana. We do not know if they are properly and fully kitted out. 

 For a country that receives US$76.1 million dollars per day, our military is beyond under-resourced. Flows of revenue from our massive oil reservoirs have not substantially improved our national defence strategy or capacity.

Compare the following figures: In 2024, the government budgeted 42.2 Billion for the Guyana Defence Force while it allocated $200 Billion on infrastructure. In 2025 the PPP/C budgeted $50.4 Billion for the army but put $209 Billion for infrastructural works. 

It is a question of spending priorities. One would imagine that if the territorial integrity of the nation is under continuous threat from external forces then a meaningful percentage of the revenue which is derived from that territory would be used to ramp up its preservation and protection.

Our far-flung regions in Essequibo remain largely undeveloped not because we don’t have the spending power but because the government has different spending priorities. 

Many Guyanese would remember the Guyana National Service (GNS), a clear and very practical aspect of a wider national strategic defense strategy, initiated by the People’s National Congress (PNC) to train our young people in various fields including military, engineering and agriculture. 

It created opportunities for our people to develop those areas in outlying regions, take ownership, and responsibility for the protection of those areas. Beyond that, the idea- every citizen a soldier was etched within the psyche of our nation.

We were equipped to protect and defend this land that belongs to us and must return to the proven successful successes. 

Guyana must move beyond heavy dependence on assistance from the international community (a nebulous arrangement), to developing and enacting a national strategy to protect and defend our territorial integrity and to keep Guyanese safe.

Reliance entirely on foreign assistance is not at all a sensible thing for any government to do, at this time. 

The new geopolitical alignments and realignments should advice against sole or heavy reliance on others to be our salvation. We must get up and carry our responsibility  with dignity and pride- be an enemy of none and ally to those who will support this nation’s founding principles of pursuing worldwide comity, peaceful and legitimate resolution to conflicts.

Some months ago, there was a public announcement about house lots for our soldiers. Many of our brave men and women serving in the GDF do not even own a piece of the land- the very land they are called to defend. 

This is disheartening-particularly when these brave Guyanese put their lives on the line to keep us safe, and have to witness the PPP/C government giving large swaths of choice lands to cronies, friends of the political elite, and foreign businesses and corporations.  This unconceivable and heartless policy must be rectified, forthwith.

Guyana is 83000 Sq. miles with less than one million people. There should be no difficulty for ordinary working Guyanese to own a piece of land to build a house or to do farming. 

The registration, the wait, long lines, the costs associated with actually getting the lot, all combined, are disincentives for our citizens to own a house lot.

On the matter of our western neighbour increasing aggression-the current iteration of the PPP/C regime, since the 2020 General and Regional Elections has had to deal with intensified provocations. 

Since then, numerous incursions have taken place, many of which threaten the territorial integrity and national security of Guyana.

On March 21 2020, the GDF and the Regional Democratic Council of Region 1 (Barima-Waini) reported that two Venezuelan Navy ships had intercepted and captured two Guyanese fishing vessels off the coast of Waini, within Guyana’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

On January 7 2021, the Venezuelan Navy dispatched a command ship to detain Bahamian-flagged ‘Teknik Perdana’ seismic survey ship, hired by ExxonMobil with the Government of Guyana’s permission. 

The ship was conducting oil exploration activities within the Stabroek Block, which is located within Guyana’s EEZ, but Venezuela claims it as part of their territory.

More recently, incursions by the Venezuelan National Armed Forces (FANB) near the GDF bases have increased.

In April, Venezuelan troops, during a four-day operation against gold smugglers, constructed a guard post on Guyana’s side of the border in the Eteringbang area.

 Moreover, numerous incidents of suspected drone overflights over GDF sites have been reported, presumably for intelligence-gathering purposes.

On the 1st March 2025, at approximately 0700 hours, Venezuelan Naval Vessel ABV Guaiqueri PO-11-IMO 469552 sailed approximately 700 metres in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) near Floating Production, 

Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform PROSPERITY, which was operating lawfully under a licence issued by the Government of Guyana.

The insufficiency in proactive measures taken by the PPP/C government in response to these incursions, reveals a worrying pattern of reactive rather than preventative strategies, and thus substantially leaving the country vulnerable to such violations. 

There is insufficient foresight in anticipating Venezuelan actions and lack of strategic planning to address such intrusions, on the part of the government.

Also, the government seemed unprepared in building robust defense protocols against incursions, such as the lack of dedicated armed coastguard vessels operating in oil-rich offshore waters. 

As a result, aggressive Venezuelan actions could only be reciprocated by ill-equipped means, the lethal potential of which still remains questionable.

Importantly, unity is one of the elements necessary to protect our national security against threats by Venezuela. 

Recent developments in Guyana, particularly the encroachment of Venezuelan vessels in Guyanese waters, have led to a call for unity among all stakeholders in the face of external threats. 

The quest for unity continues to elude us.  We must change course and work assiduously to get this right, starting now. Time is not on our side in the face of Venezuelan increasing aggression.

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