Reference is drawn to an editorial in Guyana Stabroek News, “Venezuela Election” (Jul 5) scheduled for July 28. The editorial analyzed that the outcome not only affects USA but Guyana also and beyond in the region. Millions of Venezuelans have taken refuge in neighboring countries including Guyana where there is an estimated 50,000. America is home to over two million Venezuelan economic migrants and millions more before the crisis. The Americans have offered President Nicholas Maduro and his regime a very good deal that he accepted but reluctant to implement. The Venezuelan incumbent has been trailing his opponents in popularity and support. If the election is free and fair, he will lose. But Maduro is not going to lose the election; he will not accept defeat even though commitments have been made that there will be no retributions against anyone affiliated with the regime. He will do whatever it takes to win.
Regardless of the outcome of the election, moreso if Maduro remains, and we all know what will happen on July 28, Guyana will remain very relevant to American policymakers. Guyana is at a very strategic location via-a-vis Venezuela. Relations have improved with Georgetown over the last four years, a shift away from the hostility against Washington that existed pre-2015. Guyana needs America more than ever for survival, including our physical territory. And the Americans have sought to upgrade ties with Georgetown which the latter has largely acquiesced which is the right policy.
The United States historically has considered Guyana a very important territory (since under British rule) and country ostensibly for political and strategic reasons and recently for economics; it was an ally in the First and Second World Wars. USA maintained a military base. After WWII and the emergence of the Cold War and the rise of the left-wing PPP movement in 1950, direct American attention was drawn to the then colony to keep it in the western orbit of influence. Since the discovery of large reserves of oil in 2015, Guyana has become even more significant for US policymakers; energy is always in demand in America and the West and American companies are heavily investing in energy and infrastructure in Guyana. And with Venezuela ratcheting its claim to nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s territory, on which are oil and other valuable minerals, Guyana has become even more strategic in the eyes of Washington. And of late, Venezuela has teamed up with enemies of USA and the West, resulting in Guyana having greater strategic value than ever before. And Guyana needs America and the West for her physical survival; the enemies of Washington and the West will not come to Guyana’s aid against Venezuela’s bullyism.
Venezuela has made itself an enemy of USA, resulting in the collapse of its economy not dissimilar to Guyana’s during the 1970s thru 1990. Millions of Venezuelans have escaped to America over the last decade. Venezuela signed partnership treaties with Russia, China and Cuba, three challengers of American hegemony over the region. Venezuela also has close ties with Iran, another state that has had a hostile relationship with USA since 1980. Washington is discomfited over the Venezuelan relationship with those four powers. In addition, Venezuela also nationalized American (and Western) multinationals including oil companies. The Americans are seeking a return of assets valued in billions of dollars. Thus, Venezuela, which has been under sanctions for a decade, will continue to be sanctioned by Washington.
It is in Guyana’s national interests to develop a very close strategic partnership with USA. Georgetown should play host to a base of the US Southern Command that will serve as a deterrence against Venezuelan adventurism. No country has ever successfully challenged American hegemony in the Americas. None will there do so with an American presence on the soil of a state that is threatened by an aggressor nation. Pax Americana is not dead; America’s power is not waning. Georgetown should not be fooled by comments from the uninformed.
Besides strategic interests, America and Guyana have other shared values such as interests of democracy, respect for human rights, and mutually beneficial trade. The United States has been promoting democracy and equality in our homeland and a mutually beneficial partnership. The USA has been promoting economic opportunities for businesses, both American and Guyanese, and providing assistance to combat transnational criminal organizations and climate change. Also, the US has continued its policy of family migration and granting visas for Guyanese to study and vacation in America.
Washington has committed to come to our defense if attacked by Venezuela. Anything can happen on or around July 28 as Venezuela vote. Several analysts from prestigious think tanks in Washington have warned of Venezuelan irrationality. Guyana should take preparatory measures. It is in Guyana’s interests to expand and strengthen the partnership with Washington and even to grant permission for a presence on our soil of the American Southern Command.