DEPLOYMENT of a small British warship to Guyana waters has, expectedly, been over-reported and wrongly assessed by those who naturally seek to stir up storms in teacups.

The last such headline was six decades ago in 1953, when the UK dispatched warships to colonial British Guiana to try to keep the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) out of office.

Sixty years later, the headlines are about a UK naval ship on its way to Guyana, as the preachers of doom and gloom work overtime to make it appear that a UK armada was coming to help Guyana invade Venezuela.

Naturally, those interested more in war than peace are fanning flames of discord and dissent over President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s engagement with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and the resultant December 14, 2023 Argyle Accord.

Likewise, those across the border who don’t let any opportunity pass to wave false flags have also been ringing loud false-alarm bells.

As President Ali and Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo have repeatedly said of the latest claims by those who major in minor matters, nothing this government does in Guyana’s defence is ever a threat to any other nation, including any that’s threatened Guyana, one way or another.

In a clear case of ‘pot calling kettle black’, Venezuela is accusing Guyana of violating accords, but not admitting its December 3 Referendum was a clearer violation, and selective rejection of the jurisprudence of the United Nations (UN) and its agencies over member-states, including Venezuela.

The St. Vincent summit was a progressive step to ensure the latest controversies arising from Venezuela’s groundless claims were not allowed to continue snowballing.

It’s even been suggested that the Executive President of the Republic didn’t have a mandate to talk to President Maduro, far less to shake hands with him.

As 2023 is coming to an end, with no war in sight, the warmongers and those who prefer fighting over talking are going head-over-heels to impute and imply, claim and allege, with false arguments and conclusions not supported by facts, to make it appear that the latest exchanges in the Guyana-Venezuela controversy haven’t been handled correctly, or even well enough, by this PPP/Civic administration.

However, every Guyana government since Independence has had a duty to ensure the nation is well protected at all times.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was established with government allocations that included Defence Bonds collected from the wages of every working Guyanese back then, irrespective of race, religion or party; and every government since 1966 has ensured its longevity as a permanent non-fighting force always ready for battle.

Different governments have used different yardsticks to measure resource allocations for the GDF, but this administration invested in upgrading its air and sea defence capabilities long before the latest spat with Venezuela over Guyana’s Essequibo.

For example, President Ali and a related advisory team visited aircraft manufacturers during his State visit to India earlier this year; and, never since 2020 has the GDF had to complain about lack of access to adequate financing.

So, there’s actually no reason for anyone to continue trying to fry an egg in a bath pan of oil, just to show it can be done.
Talk is free and cheap, but in matters of national security and defence, talks also bring results and lead to actions ranging from declarations of war to negotiations for peace.
To suggest, therefore, that President Ali should not have even talked to President Maduro about ways to reduce inflated tensions over Essequibo is nothing less than opposition to peacemaking by those who keep spitting in the sky and calling it rain.