Home Top Stories US crackdown on Venezuelan cartels: “These elections are serious… You are voting...
– Says PPP/C has built ‘greatest international coalition’ to defend country
As Guyanese head to the polls September 1, 2025, President Dr Irfaan Ali has underscored the importance of upcoming elections, especially to Guyana’s sovereignty and national security.
“These elections are serious elections. You are voting not only for today, you are voting for the future of this country. You are voting for our sovereignty, our national security – and that vote must be to protect who we are, what we have and what made us this beautiful land of Guyana. And if on September 1, your vote is to do just this, then there is no other choice than the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C),” Ali declared.
His comments comes as tensions rise in the region between the United States (US) and Venezuela. The US has deployed three warships and more than 4,000 military troops off the coast of Venezuela as part of efforts to crack down on the drug trade in the region. The warships were expected to arrive sometime Sunday, according to international media. Washington has stated that designated narco-terrorist organisations like Venezuela’s Cártel 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. Speaking on this issue during a massive rally held by the incumbent PPP/C on Sunday evening at Stewartville, West Coast Demerara (WCD), President Ali stressed what is at stake for Guyana and its future. He said that after fighting for Guyana over the last 75 years, the PPP/C is still fighting today to give the country and its people the best future they can have. “Our region is undergoing tremendous changes in the security framework… Venezuela is a threat to our sovereignty and we have seen today international security forces are mobilised. More than ever before, our country needs leadership you can rely on. Leadership you can trust. Leadership that will ensure the sovereignty of our country, that will ensure the protection of our country. Leadership that the world wants to work with,” Ali, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Force, stated.
He noted that this current PPP/C Administration has mobilised the “greatest international coalition” in defence of Guyana’s sovereignty – from the Middle East, the Commonwealth, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organisation of American States (OAS), the US, the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, among a host of others who are in support of the country’s sovereignty.
Only recently, the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) Government has declared its strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana.
In a statement on Saturday evening welcoming the deployment of American military assets to the region to tackle terrorist drug cartels, the Office of the PM in Port-of-Spain said that while T&T has always had good relations with the Venezuelan people, and this will continue, there will be full support in all efforts to defend Guyana’s territory. According to the missive, no requests have ever been made by the American Government for their military assets to access Trinidadian territory for any military action against the Nicolás Maduro-led Venezuelan regime but this could change.
“I want to make it very clear that if the Maduro regime launches any attack against the Guyanese people or invades Guyanese territory and a request is made by the American Government for access to Trinidadian territory to defend the people of Guyana, my Government will unflinchingly provide them that access,” the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration declared.
According to President Ali, this did not come by accident but because of the PPP/C’s relentless work to build international trust and confidence. “Our partners know they can rely on us for the rule of law. They can rely on us for democracy, and they can rely on us to stand up for what is right,” he stated.
This, he added, is compared to the PPP/C’s political opponents – one set that believes fundamentally in racism, hatred and rigged elections, and the other in criminality, smuggling, and brutality. “That is the alternative to a strong, stable, secure Government PPP/C Government,” Ali declared.
Only on Friday, the Guyana Government 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, the Government expressed grave concern over the threat to peace and security in the region 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.
According to the 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.”
To this end, 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.
