US committed to helping Guyana strengthen security capacity

…Navy, GDF Coast Guard conduct joint exercises

Emphasising its commitment to helping Guyana strengthen its security-related capacity in the region, a vessel from the United States (US) Navy on Saturday joined the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard in a joint training exercise.
According to the US Embassy, the US Naval Ship (USNS) Burlington conducted the joint training exercise with the GDF. It was an operation that included countering illicit trafficking operations and monitoring techniques.
The USNS Burlington has been in the region conducting operations with Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. Last month, the ship also lent critical support to US efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to Haiti following its earthquake.
“The USNS Burlington is the U.S. Navy’s 10th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessel. EPFs are versatile, non-combatant, transport ships that are being used for high-speed transportation of troops, military vehicles, and equipment.”
“The vessels support a variety of missions including overseas contingency operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, support of special operations forces, theater security cooperation activities and emerging joint sea-basing concepts,” the US Embassy said in its statement.
According to the Embassy, the US is also committed to strengthening “the capabilities of partners in Guyana for the security and prosperity of the region.” This is possibly a reference to Guyana’s role in stemming drug trafficking.
It was announced in December that in keeping with efforts to increase maritime security in the Atlantic Ocean, the US Navy would send the USCGC Stone, a brand-new cutter, to patrol offshore a number of countries in the Region.
The vessel started its patrols offshore Guyana in January, but not before it intercepted a vessel in the process of trafficking drugs. According to information released by the Defence Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), the vessel while en route to Guyana to conduct its joint patrols in keeping with Operation Southern Cross when it came across the vessel south of the Dominican Republic.

The USNS Burlington when it arrived in Port of Spain (PoS), Trinidad on September 13 (Photo by the PoS US Embassy)

It was explained that acting on information from a maritime patrol aircraft, the USCGC Stone approached the vessel and used its US Coast Guard authority to stop them. Another ship, the USCGC Raymond Evans, subsequently arrived on the scene. Eventually, 2148.5 lbs of cocaine was discovered.
In September of 2020, then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Guyana and signed a maritime patrol pact with officials in Guyana to guard against narcotics and other regional security threats.
President Dr Irfaan Ali had explained at the time that the maritime pact would see joint patrols to interdict narcotics trafficking. The President had also noted that it would allow for the improvement of technical and human capabilities in monitoring Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone. That move, he had noted, would augur well for stronger collaboration and broader technical assistance to help combat both domestic and transnational organised criminal networks.
“In relation to our Exclusive Economic Zone, it is not only from a maritime perspective, because we would have raised also with the Secretary radar coverage of our Exclusive Economic Zone, which is critical at this time.”
“We have had various difficulties, and I think we welcome any help that would enhance our security, that would enhance our ability to protect our borders and, importantly, enhance our capability and ability to ensure that we go after criminal elements. And this allows us to do that. It strengthens our capacity and it builds that partnership and gives us that additional capacity that is so needed,” President Ali had also said. (G3)