GUYANA - President Dr. Irfaan Ali has sounded the alarm over rising security challenges in the region, warning that transnational criminal networks and Venezuela’s illegal territorial claims pose a direct threat to Guyana’s sovereignty, stability and future.
Opening his address to hundreds of supporters attending at a public meeting in Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, on Saturday evening, President Ali cautioned that the next few days represent a critical moment for the nation.
“Tonight we are nine days away from writing history on the right pages or turning back the clock of development. Nine days away from securing this country or destroying this country. The decision is about children, parents, community and country,” he said. Even so, Ali noted the region’s rapidly shifting environment, highlighting the increased military presence, particularly by the United States, in the past 72 hours.
“The region is faced with a challenge that is currently confronting us…a security risk in this region. A risk of illicit trade, a risk with security, with our sovereignty. These criminal networks can destabilize our region and our economy. They can do the work of rogue regimes and we know, let us not be blind to the fact that Venezuela poses a threat to Guyana,” Dr Ali said. His concerns were reinforced in a statement issued by the Government of Guyana, which said it “views with grave concern the threat to peace and security in the region posed by transnational organised crime and narco-terrorism, often involving criminal networks such as the Cartel de los Soles of Venezuela, designated as a terrorist organisation by some countries in the region.” (Newsroom)
