US crackdown on Venezuelan cartels: Guyana reaffirms support to dismantle criminal networks, safeguard regional security

The Guyana Government has underscored the need for strengthened co-operation at the regional and hemispheric levels to tackle the threats posed to regional security from transnational crime and narco-terrorism.
In a statement on Friday, the Government expressed grave concern over the threat to peace and security in the Latin American and Caribbean regions by transnational organised crime and narco-terrorism, including criminal networks, such as the Cartel de los Soles from Venezuela, which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by some countries in the region.
These concerns by Guyanese authorities come on the heels of the United States (US) recently deploying three warships off the coast of Venezuela as part of its crackdown on drug cartels in the region.

Washington has stated that designated narco-terrorist organisations like the Cartel de los Soles are using the region’s air and sea corridors to funnel drugs into the US, thus posing a direct threat to American lives and security.
According to the Guyana Government in Friday’s missive, “Such criminal networks have the capacity to overwhelm state institutions, undermine democracy, pervert the rule of law and threaten human dignity and development. The Government of Guyana underscores the necessity for strengthened cooperation and concerted efforts at the national, regional, hemispheric and global levels to effectively combat this menace.”
Citing previous commitments made by President Irfaan Ali, the Guyana Government reaffirms its commitment to and support for a collaborative and integrated approach to tackle transnational organised crime by working with bilateral partners to dismantle criminal networks, safeguarding the region’s shared security.
These sentiments were reiterated by President Ali, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, during an engagement with reporters on Friday morning.
“As President, part of my duty is to ensure our sovereignty is maintained and that we continue to live in peace here… We’ve always said we support this region being a zone of peace, and we understand the importance of our sovereignty, and we’ll do everything to protect our sovereignty,” Ali declared.

US Secretary of State
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday shared the Guyana Government’s statement on the threats to regional security.
Only last week, Rubio had emphasised during a media briefing in the US that some of these designated narco-terrorist groups in the region are utilising international airspace and international waters to “transit poison into the United States, and those groups will be confronted.”
Rubio further singled out Venezuela’s so-called Cartel of the Suns (Cartel de los Soles), which he describes as a criminal organisation masquerading as a Government. The US official asserted that the Nicolás Maduro regime has effectively turned the Venezuelan state into a criminal enterprise, using its control of national territory to facilitate illicit trafficking and threaten regional stability.
“The Maduro regime is not a Government. We’ve never recognised them as such. They are a criminal enterprise that basically has taken control of the national territory of a country,” Rubio said. “By the way, they are also threatening US oil companies that are operating lawfully in Guyana. So, the President [Donald Trump] has been very firm – anything that’s a threat to the national security of the United States, he’s going to confront,” Rubio stated.
President Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central plank of his administration’s security strategy, tying it to broader efforts to limit illegal migration and strengthen border security.

Welcomed
In fact, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo last week pointed this out when he welcomed the US’ decision to deploy air and naval forces to the Southern Caribbean Sea to counter the activities of powerful Latin American drug cartels.
Speaking at his weekly press briefing on August 14, Jagdeo said the US position on combating drug trafficking is consistent with President Trump’s commitment during his campaign and in office that drug smuggling into the US would be met with “serious consequences”.
According to the Guyanese Vice President, “So, I don’t see anything unusual in them deploying assets in the region to prevent drug traffickers from getting into the United States of America. In fact, we welcome it because we work in collaboration with them to stop this.”
According to Reuters and AFP news agencies earlier this week, an amphibious squadron consisting of three US Aegis-class guided missile destroyers is heading to the waters off Venezuela and could arrive as early as Sunday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two sources with knowledge of the deployment told Reuters that the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale are moving towards the Venezuelan coast and are carrying 4500 US service members, including 2200 Marines.
Only recently, the Trump administration had offered a $50 million reward for the arrest of Maduro, accusing him of being one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Maduro has said on state television that he would deploy 4.5 million militia members “that are prepared, activated and armed” in response to “outlandish threats” by the US.