US base in Guyana a “rumour”, has no foundation – Air Force commander

United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Air Force Commander, Major General Evan Pettus, has dismissed claims by Venezuela that the US is setting up a base in Guyana.
Major General Pettus was on a three-day visit to Guyana to continue discussions with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) on its air domain awareness and collaborate on advancing Guyana’s airspace awareness capacity.
During a media briefing on Friday following his engagements with Guyanese officials, the Commander of the Air Force arm of SOUTHCOM was questioned about the steps taken to counter the narrative being peddled by Venezuela that the US was setting up a miliary base in Guyana.
“That’s an interesting rumour. It’s not one that I’m aware has any foundation,” Major General Pettus stated.
According to the Air Force Commander, the US military, especially through SOUTHCOM, has had a strong bilateral security partnership with Guyana, dating back several decades, and one which spans a vast spectrum of areas. These range from military and medical capabilities, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response.
“So, this is an ongoing relationship and I think that, specifically, tying any of these things to current events in Venezuela would be overstating the important [military cooperation] relationship that we’ve had since 1966 since the independence of Guyana,” the SOUTHCOM Commander posited.
Similar sentiments were expressed by GDF Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan, who pointed out that Guyana not only has military cooperation with the US but other Western nations as well as those within the Region.
Asked whether it is concerned that the GDF’s continued military engagements with various partners could be viewed by Venezuela as an act of aggression, Brigadier Khan contended that these collaborations were geared towards not only ensuring Guyana’s security but also a collective regional security and the stability of the Region.
“The Region is made up of many actors, several countries and no one country can say to themselves that they can do it on their own. We always need partnership, and partnership has been the foundation for collective security across this Region. We’ve not only had the US, we’ve had the UK (United Kingdom), we have the Netherlands, we have forces [in the Region like] French Guiana, and they have been doing their work as part of this collective security. Caricom (Caribbean Community) as you know has its own security component that we are a part of. The Regional Security System – Guyana became a full member [of the RSS] in 2022. And that is all part of this, what we call regional security. So, it’s not Guyana alone; it’s not the US alone. But I must say the US has been a major part of bringing all the actors together,” the Army Chief pointed out.
Back in December 2023, the UK sent a Royal Navy patrol vessel to Guyana’s waters as part of a series of engagements in this region – a move which was viewed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a threat to the peace and sovereignty of his country by the UK. He also said the deployment of the British warship to Guyana’s waters violates the spirit of the December 14, 2023 Argyle Agreement between the two South American neighbours signed in St Vincent and the Grenadines and called for the vessel to be withdrawn.
However, President Dr Irfaan Ali declared that, “Guyana has long been engaged in partnerships with regional and international States, aimed at enhancing internal security. These partnerships pose a threat to no one, and are in no way intended to be aggressive or constitute an offensive act against any State.”
Britain’s Defence Ministry had said the HMS Trent, a river-class patrol vessel, would take part in joint exercises with Guyana after Christmas.

However, in response to the deployment of the British naval ship, Maduro ordered “the activation of a joint defensive action of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces” off the coast of Guyana’s Essequibo region, to which the Spanish-speaking nation is laying claim.
Those tensions were eventually calmed following the intervention of St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, in his role as interlocutor between the two nations following the recent Argyle declaration.
In that declaration, Guyana and Venezuela agreed, among other things, to not threaten or use force against one another, and to continue dialogue in Brazil.
That first meeting was held on January 25 in Brasilia between the Joint Commission of Foreign Ministers and Technicians of Guyana and Venezuela. Guyana’s delegation was led by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd, who described the meeting as a “good start” to creating a better future of good neighbourliness for the next generation.
Meanwhile, even as tensions have seemingly simmered down between Guyana and Venezuela, international media Reuters reported on Friday that Brazil has deployed a convoy of military trucks and armoured vehicles to its northern border.
According to the article, the Brazilian army has moved more than two dozen armoured cars from Manaus to Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, where the local garrison will be increased to 600 soldiers. Boa Vista is home to the official border crossing between Guyana and Brazil. (Vahnu Manikchand)