CLAIMS by Venezuela’s former Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel that Guyana is complicit in allowing international spy agencies to penetrate its country (Venezuela) have been refuted by Minister of State Joseph Harmon.  The minister, at his post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday, said, “I can categorically say that there is no such training taking place in Guyana, sponsored by the State or by any element of the State. And so the El Nacional or any newspaper carrying this type of misinformation can quote me directly to say that it is not so.”

Rangel claims that agencies such as the United Kingdom’s MI6, Israeli Intelligence Service and the Central Intelligence Agency are being facilitated by Guyana to infiltrate Venezuela.

Minister Harmon recalled that a somewhat similar claim was made decades ago, with the Time magazine saying that Cubans were being massed along the border between the two nations. Then a serving officer in the Guyana Defence Force, Harmon said he was instructed to facilitate a fact-finding trip for a U.S. based magazine reporter to visit all of the GDF bases at border locations, and free access was given, enabling any rank to speak with the reporter to clarify the issue. The issue arose after the GDF decided to discard the use of the traditional beret for jungle hats and caps for ranks based in the interior, thus starting a rumour about the Cubans training ranks at border locations.

The recent claim by the former minister of Venezuela was described as another effort to bolster their claims to Guyana’s territory in the face of international condemnation. “People try to justify their actions by declaring these things. We don’t have M15 in Guyana we don’t have MI6,” Minister Harmon stated.

Meanwhile, President David Granger has signalled his intention to address Parliament today. Minister Harmon said President Granger informed Cabinet that he will “address the issue of the decrees made by Venezuela and Guyana’s response to it internationally and within the country.” It was added that Parliament will be briefed and, “the nation will be advised on the Government of Guyana’s response to these statements made by the Venezuelan President. (GINA)