AMID the tension sparked by Venezuela amassing troops with missiles and guns at its eastern border with Guyana, the David Granger administration continues to urge citizens to remain calm, insisting that there is no need for aggression on its part. However, while soldiers have been on high alert, Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff Brigadier Mark Phillips said no additional troops have been rushed to the borders. “The Guyana Defence Force is ready to define aggression. We have troops deployed at various locations. The GDF continues to monitor the border with the current troops on the frontier,” Philips told a media conference at the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday.
He said troops at Eteringbang, Kaikan and other observation posts along the Cuyuni River are continuing to monitor the activities by the Venezuelan armed forces on Guyana’s frontiers. The GDF Chief of Staff said the military was aware of the buildup of troops at the Guyana-Venezuela border prior to Tuesday’s announcement by President Granger. He said the buildup of the troops became “noticeable and unusual” over the weekend with over 200 troops deployed between San Martin – a small town on the border – and Ankoko Island.
Phillips said of great concern is the “deployment of military boats with machine guns in the Cuyuni River.” He reiterated the fact that the Cuyuni River is within Guyana’s borders and to deploy armed boats in the Cuyuni River “is an affront to our sovereignty.”
“As you know, there were photographs of surface-to-air missiles that were seen within the Venezuelan border but contiguous to the Guyana-Venezuela border area, we were able to locate the missiles at a town called El Dorado about 57 KM inside of Venezuela,” Brigadier Phillips told reporters.
He emphasised the GDF’s readiness and stressed that it is continuing its monitoring with the aim of defining aggression. “Our deployment is geared to define aggression and acts of incursion on our border and we remain ready to deploy additional troops and equipment if need be to those locations,” the Chief of Staff assured.
Military troops at Camp Stevenson and Camp Ayanganna and those at other coastal and inland training locations have been briefed and alerted about the situation as well, Phillips noted. “As mentioned earlier, our deployment is geared to define aggression and acts of incursion on our border and we remain ready to deploy additional troops and equipment if need be,” he said. While Guyana is in a state of readiness, Phillips said “we (Guyana) have a settled border with Venezuela and our duty is to define aggression along the settled border with Venezuela.
Concern over the closeness
Meanwhile, Minister of State and Secretary to the Defence Board, Lt. Col. (ret’d) Joseph Harmon said Guyana is expected to communicate with Venezuela about the military operations near the Guyana border and government’s concern over the closeness, the military machinery and intensity of activities near to and in Guyana’s territory.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Organisation of American States (OAS), Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the United Nations (UN) are also to be informed of the new developments. “It is our intention to explore these possibilities to the fullest so that our diplomatic initiative is really where the efforts will be,” he said.
Asked why citizens were only notified on Tuesday of the “unusual” activities at the border, Brigadier Philips said, “We have been monitoring the borders every day…reports come in at the headquarters. What we saw a week ago were changes in the deployment on the border, but what occurred over the weekend, Saturday, Sunday Monday, were deemed unusual…” These strange activities, Philips said, were reported to government immediately.
Sensitising our people
Harmon describing the move by Venezuela as “an act of aggression” said Guyana is preparing itself in the event of aggression but noted that it is government’s responsibility to adequately sensitise its people. “You don’t wait until something happens… it is our responsibility as a government to ensure that the nation is advised and informed of these matters.” He said too, “These are not the days when a government can decide it is keeping information from the citizenry… Our responsibility is to ensure the information is properly analysed and we provide guidance and careful instruction to the disciplined forces, and ensure our people are informed at every stage. This is the best form of defence. We believe Guyanese people are astute enough to understand the situation.”
Show of forces
Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman who was also at the news conference told reporters that in acts of conflict there are three stages: “The show of force, threat of force and the use of force.” At this stage, Trotman says Guyana is only seeing a show of force. “We are still in the process of display or the show of force…there has been no threat, or use of force…we will continue to be on alert,” he said after being questioned about Guyana’s deployment of additional troops to its borders.
“At this stage it is still a show… militaries show force— we are seeing a show of force, Venezuela is well aware that the world is watching. We don’t anticipate anything along the line of use of force,” said the Minister of Governance. He said too that there is no need for citizens to either panic or believe that Venezuela is about to invade Guyana. “There is no cause for people to think we’re about to be invaded or anything like that. There are obviously maneuvers but these have more of a political end than a military end…,” Trotman said. The actions of Venezuela, the minister said, are expected to make an impact on the world stage. “So Guyanese ought not to be alarmed that anything is about to happen. …all precaution is in place and everything is being done to monitor and define what is going on. But in no way is Guyana preparing to stage any act or precipitate any act of aggression,” Trotman stated.
Grandstanding
He said Guyana is “in the throat of some grandstanding” as Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro prepares to address the United Nations next week, but will not ignore it. “One only has to see what is happening on the other border with Colombia to know that it is Guyana’s turn to experience some of the same. But we shouldn’t panic or have a sense that we are faced with guns or missiles or anything of the sort.”
On Tuesday, Venezuelan Minister of Defence Vladimir Padrino Lopez said military officers of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) held “operational exercises” in East Venezuela. He did not elaborate on the specific area in East Venezuela nor the number of soldiers and equipment involved in the operation. The Venezuelan Minister of Defence was quoted as saying “at this time we are conducting exercises to the east of the country, an operational deployment.” He urged Venezuelans to remain calm as the Venezuelan military prepares itself. A similar exercise is being conducted in the western side of Venezuela, Lopez stated.
By Ariana Gordon