Commander of US Southern Command to visit Guyana

US Army General Laura Richardson, Commander of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), will visit Guyana from August 29 to 31 to meet with Government and defence leaders for talks on the bilateral security partnership between the United States and Guyana.
Richardson is visiting Guyana ten months after assuming duties as SOUTHCOM’s Commander and nearly five months after meeting with Caribbean defence and public security leaders during the 2022 Caribbean Nations Security Conference in April in Bridgetown, Barbados.

During her two-day stay in Georgetown, she will meet with US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch; President of Guyana, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess.
Richardson will also join Guyana’s First Lady Arya Ali and Ambassador Lynch in welcoming participants of the Caribbean Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Conference, which Guyana will host from August 29-September 1 in partnership with the Florida National Guard.
The United States and Guyana have a longstanding history of security cooperation. The defence partnership between the two countries includes collaboration against regional threats and challenges, capacity-building exercises, bilateral training, expertise exchanges, events fostering the inclusion of women in defence and security missions, and professional development engagements.
SOUTHCOM is one of the Department of Defence’s six geographically focused unified commands with responsibility for security cooperation with defence and public security forces in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.