Border controversy: US vows to ensure Guyana’s security for oil production

As Venezuela continues to raise tension threatening Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, United States on Tuesday has reiterated its pledge of required necessary security for Guyana.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Guyana this week, with a key focus on strengthening security measures for Guyana’s burgeoning oil sector.

During a three-nation tour to the Caribbean, Rubio will address a range of critical issues, including energy security, illegal immigration, and the dismantling of transnational criminal networks, according to U.S. State Department officials.
According to a Reuters report issued on Tuesday, in his upcoming meetings, Rubio will emphasise the importance of safeguarding Guyana’s oil production activities being executed in the Stabroek Block by US oil giant ExxonMobil.
The same report indicated that while speaking at a recent briefing, U.S. Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone is quoted by stating that ‘Washington would support oil production in Guyana and Suriname, and that it wanted to make sure that Guyana has the security necessary amid the border controversy with neighbouring Venezuela’.
The US is keen on bolstering energy cooperation with both Guyana and Suriname, as the two nations oil sectors are rapidly expanding. In fact, President Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order declaring that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela, which has historically exported its oil across the Caribbean, will pay a 25 percent tariff on trade with the U.S.

According to the US Secretary of State, there will be no tolerance from the US for any third-countries or their oil companies producing, extracting, or exporting oil and oil-related products with the Maduro regime in Venezuela.
“This is a regime that has consistently stolen elections, pillaged from its people, and colluded with our enemies. Any country that allows its companies to produce, extract, or export from Venezuela will be subject to new tariffs, and any company will be subject to sanctions,” Rubio said recently.
Condemned
Only three weeks ago, a Venezuelan naval vessel had entered Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) where US oil major ExxonMobil is operating– an act that was widely condemned by the Guyana Government, local stakeholders as well as regional and international leaders and bodies.
During its incursion, the Venezuelan naval vessel communicated threateningly via radio communication that Prosperity was operating in Venezuela’s EEZ, before continuing in a southwestern direction towards other FPSOs in Guyana’s waters, to which it delivered the same message.
Following the Venezuela’s incursion, the Guyana Government has since activated a series of responses, including the deployment of military resources offshore, engaging the international community and it has also sent a formal protest note to Caracas.
Based on reports coming out of Caracas, Maduro has recently called for a face-to-face meeting with President Ali – something which the Guyana Government has already shut down in the face of Venezuela’s blatant disregard of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
President Ali told reporters last weekend that he will not have any discussions with Venezuela when they are blatantly disregarding the Argle Declaration – a December 2023 peace pact signed by the Guyanese and Venezuelan presidents.
Similarly, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo gave this assurance during his weekly press conference on Thursday, when he disclosed that the Guyana Government is working every day to ensure the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are not undermined by Venezuelan forces.
Guyana has also written the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking to block attempts by the Maduro-led Venezuelan regime to hold elections in the Essequibo region – two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass which the Spanish-speaking nation is also claiming.
Last week, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd told the Guyana Times that the ICJ has already given Venezuela until the end of March to respond its plans to hold elections in Guyana’s Essequibo region on May 25, 2025.
The Guyanese Government informed the World Court, which is currently hearing a case to settle the decades-long border controversy between the two South American neighbours, that such actions by Venezuela “flagrantly violate” the provisional measures issued by the court in December 2023.
On the other hand, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn has already made it clear that any Guyanese found supporting efforts by the Maduro regime to appoint a governor and other leaders in its Guyana’s Essequibo region will be charged with treason – something which VP Jagdeo reaffirmed during Thursday’s press conference.
“These antics by the Venezuelan government… you have to treat it seriously and that is why we took it to the ICJ. We approached the ICJ on the matter of their elections [and] our partners are fully briefed etc. …And Robeson Benn already made it clear – it’s a treason act. Any Guyanese who allows himself to be appointed Governor of Essequibo that includes our territory…it’s a treasonous act,” Jagdeo contended.
Only last month, six members of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) came under attack by Venezuelan men on the border. The February 17, attack injured the six troops – all with gunshot wounds. Initial reports had in