Response to critics of a US military base in Guyana

Dear Editor,
Several persons have come out against my proposal (“a shocker”) that Guyana should consider establishing a US military base in our Essequibo, to help protect us against the aggression launched by Venezuela’s Pres Maduro when he de facto annexed our Essequibo: two-thirds of our national territory.
He has already appointed a governor, and announced “development plans”. This is not just a declaration of war against the Guyanese state, but is actual war. My proposal was an answer to the question of what we can do.
One of the KN’s Peeping Tom articles, for instance, (Say no to US military base 12-11-23) argues that “South America remains fiercely anti-imperialist”, and a US military base “not only collides with this anti-imperialist posture, but also challenges the principles of sovereignty, and also carries the ominous shadow of neocolonialism.” We are very sympathetic to this view, but would like to point out that it is quite ahistorical in our circumstances.
In the last sixty years, it has been Venezuela that has deployed imperialist imperatives in seeking to colonise Essequibo in complete violation of the “full and final” Arbitral Award of 1899 which they signed. Some would forget that Venezuela annexed our half of Ankoko Island in 1966, and occupy it to this day; and they blocked the World Bank financing for the development of the Upper Mazaruni. Now they have de facto annexed Essequibo, and have ordered oil companies we have licensed to leave. What could be more imperialistic than that?
Yet, South America have restrained their “anti-imperialism” to mild reproaches. Have they taken cognizance of the billions of US dollars in military hardware that Maduro has acquired from Russia?
Secondly, he contends, “The US is hostile to Venezuela, and it is not necessarily an ally of Brazil. None of these two countries are likely to look kindly upon any suggestion that a US military base be established on their doorstep. To do so would invite aggression from Venezuela and a rejection from Brazil.” We have already experienced “aggression” from Venezuela. Pres Lula’s leftist tendencies have not made him cancel the RDT&E Agreement that facilitates joint development of basic, applied and advanced technology between the U.S. DoD and the Brazilian Ministry of Defence. He accepts that Brazil’s interest in being a strong regional power with global ambitions is facilitated by cooperating with the US.
Peeping Tom wants to know whether “the presence of a military base (is) genuinely for mutual defense?” We have made it clear that the US would be acting in its own interests to counter Venezuela, not because they “like” us. It would be up to us to ensure that the military base also serves our interests beyond the Venezuelan imperative.
According to reports, the US presently has around 78 military bases in the Caribbean and South America, and President Lula has not objected to any. These are divided into three types: the “base of operations”, the “small military base” or “Lily Pad”, and the most common, “funded base”, which would be best for us. Unlike the first two, this facility would be owned by us, but US military personnel would have access to it.
This would be our first line of defence against Venezuela. It would be near our border, and for which we should immediately put together specialized army and air force personnel to staff it. In our 2000 ROAR Blueprint, we had called for such a specialized Border Unit.
In Feb 2022, the Colombian Institute for Development and Peace Studies president noted, “The goal of the Nicolás Maduro regime […] is expansion […]. They want to expand that power to different territories in Latin America, […], something that is very similar to the goal Putin has in Russia, of expanding Russia to neighbouring lands”.
Venezuela has taken cognizance of the seven US bases in Colombia, and has pivoted east towards what Maduro thinks is the low-hanging fruit of the Essequibo. A US base would augment our diplomatic initiatives and assist in persuading him otherwise.

Sincerely,
Ravi Dev