OFFICIALS from the William J. Perry Centre for Hemispheric Studies, a United States (US) Department of Defence institution, on Wednesday paid a courtesy call on President David Granger.

The delegation included the Centre’s Director, Mr. Mark Wilkins, Coordinator; Major General (ret’d), Richard Goetze; the Centre’s Regional Officer, Colonel Claudia Carrizales and Assistants,Ms. Katherine O’Ryan and Mr. Darryl Long.
According to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency, they were accompanied to State House by US Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Perry Holloway and Chief Military Liaison Officer, Mr. Michael White. Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon and Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Patrick West were also present at the meeting.
During their discussions, Director Wilkins said that the Centre has developed several new programmes aimed at strengthening defence governance and is willing to work in partnership with Guyana in this regard, the release noted.
“He said that every country has its own peculiarities and added that the Centre is prepared to share best practices and tailor a programme to best suit the country’s needs,” the release further stated.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of the Presidency, President Granger said that a partnership with the Centre could prove to be beneficial for Guyana given the security challenges it faces. He explained that given the country’s size, geography, extensive borders and scattered population, it is difficult to conduct adequate surveillance and provide the level of security required in some far flung locations in the hinterland.
The Perry Centre promotes greater understanding of US policy, mutually supportive approaches to security challenges, and improved, sustainable institutional capacity through courses, seminars, outreach, strategic dialogue, and focused research in support of policy objectives. The Centre originated from the first Defence Ministerial of the Americas in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1995, a conference established by then-US Secretary of Defence William J. Perry,to convene defence ministers from around the hemisphere to discuss shared defence and security issues.