THE statement issued by the Government of Guyana on Friday, warning of the dangers posed by transnational organised crime and narco-terrorism, is both timely and sobering.
In an era when fragile democracies in Latin America and the Caribbean are increasingly tested by the corrosive influence of drug cartels and criminal syndicates, Guyana’s firm position sends a clear signal: the region cannot afford complacency.
For decades, the Caribbean has been caught in the crosshairs of global drug trafficking routes. Weak borders, porous coastlines, and limited enforcement resources have made small states particularly vulnerable.
Today, the challenge has grown even more complex. Criminal syndicates such as Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles, with its alleged ties to elements of state power, are no longer simply drug smuggling networks.
They are actors capable of undermining entire institutions, eroding democratic governance, and destabilising societies.
Guyana’s concern is not alarmist; it reflects a harsh reality. Transnational organised crime thrives on corruption, preys on poverty, and exploits political divisions.
Narco-terrorism in particular poses an existential threat, where drug money fuels armed groups, insurgencies, and political extremism.
Across the hemisphere, one can see its fingerprints, from the violent operations of cartels in Mexico, to the destabilisation of parts of Central America, to the tentacles reaching into Caribbean territories.
President Irfaan Ali’s administration has rightly framed this challenge as one that no state can confront alone.
The call for strengthened co-operation, national, regional, hemispheric, and global, is urgent and essential.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has long championed the idea of a Zone of Peace, but peace cannot be sustained without addressing the underworld economies that fund violence and lawlessness.
Regional partnerships must go beyond rhetoric, evolving into practical intelligence-sharing frameworks, joint security operations, and stronger judicial systems to ensure accountability.
Guyana itself sits at a pivotal juncture. Its newfound oil wealth has put the country on the global map, but prosperity also attracts new risks.
The same criminal syndicates that threaten neighbouring states will inevitably look to infiltrate, launder, and exploit Guyana’s economic boom if vigilance falters.
This makes the government’s insistence on collaboration with bilateral, regional, and global partners both pragmatic and necessary.
Yet, co-operation cannot end with governments alone.
Civil society, the private sector, and citizens must also be part of the solution. Communities need to be resilient against the lure of criminal enterprises, which so often masquerade as providers of opportunity where the state is absent.
Investments in education, social welfare, and job creation are not luxuries, they are fortifications against narco-terrorism’s recruitment strategies.
The declaration from Georgetown comes at a time when the hemisphere is increasingly alert to the nexus between drugs, terrorism, and political instability.
It is, in many ways, a reaffirmation of Guyana’s diplomatic role as a responsible partner in safeguarding not only its own sovereignty but the collective security of the Caribbean and the Americas.
But words must translate into action. The test will lie in how Guyana and its partners turn this recognition into tangible results: tougher laws, smarter enforcement, and a coordinated regional response. Failure to act decisively would leave the region exposed to criminal networks that recognise no borders and respect no law.
The government is right: unity is the only path forward. By confronting organised crime together, the Caribbean can hope to remain a true Zone of Peace, not merely in aspiration, but in reality.