Ambassador Bonnie D. Jenkins, the U.S. Government’s Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, concluded her two-day visit to Guyana on Friday. She reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to working with Guyana to address the illegal arms trade and other security challenges.
“In my meetings with Prime Minister Mark Phillips, Brigadier Khan, and (National Security Advisor) Gerry Gouveia, we discussed our commitment to work with Guyana to reduce violence in the Caribbean and decrease the illegal trafficking of arms under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative,” Jenkins said.
One of the tangible ways the U.S. is supporting Guyana and the Caribbean is through security services training. This direct action reflects the U.S.’s genuine concern about the proliferation of illegal guns in Guyana.
“What I can say is that in all the conversations I’ve had while here in Guyana, that’s been a topic that we’ve talked about. We recognize the concern that the Government and individuals here have about illegal guns. We are working very closely with Guyana to try to address this issue. We also work closely with CARICOM (Caribbean Community ) to address the problem.
We recently had an export ban on illegal arms, so we can figure out how to address this issue and ensure that they don’t get into the hands of those who should not have those arms. As I mentioned, we’re also working with CARICOM on the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative to address this issue, so it has come up, and indeed, the U.S. government recognizes the concern that many people here in Guyana have with this issue,” she stated.
Jenkins noted that the U.S., as a partner with the Caribbean, continues to pay close attention to the region’s happenings, especially in the area of security. She noted recent actions by the Russian military in conducting exercises close to the Caribbean.
“We have been aware of them working with Cuba on these kinds of naval exercises in the past, and they did some of this in 2020 as well, so we are aware of that. We don’t see that as a threat to the U.S., but we are tracking it, so we are well aware of that”, she noted.
On the build-up of Venezuelan troops near the Guyana border, the U.S. official reaffirmed the U.S. Government’s support of Guyana in the border controversy and noted that there should be respect for Guyana’s territorial integrity.
The U.S. has long described Guyana as a strategic partner in the Western Hemisphere that can assist Washington to curb narco-trafficking and gun-running in the region.
The U.S. recently announced that it will continue its partnership in assisting the Guyana Government in several areas, including the commencement of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) capacity-building training program to bolster Guyana’s counternarcotics capacity.
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