Prime Minister Mark Phillips has indicated that the support that Guyana continues to receive from its regional and international partners in the ongoing border controversy with Venezuela has inspired lots of confidence.

During an early morning appearance on Observer Radio in Antitgua, the Prime Minister said while Guyana continues to bank on its allies, the country will also defend itself against Venezuela’s aggression.

“We are heartened that all organizations—the UN, the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States and CARICOM, all have come out stating clearly that they are not in favor of this move by Venezuela to seek to annex to the territory of Guyana and the fact that it has the potential to create instability in our hemisphere and our region,” the PM said.

The Prime Minister, who is a retired Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, said that the team from the United States, Department of Defence which is expected in Guyana this week, will be fully briefed by the Government on all of the developments that have been taking place.

“The visit by the United States Department of Defence will also send a strong message to the President of Venezuela, that this is controversy raised by him has a negative effect on the development of Guyana but it will have a negative effect on the entire Latin America and the Caribbean regions and that is why the United States Department of Defence will be in Guyana,” the Prime Minister noted.

The Prime Minister said Diplomacy is the country’s first line of defence and that Guyana has no interest to engage in any confrontation with Venezuela. To this end, he said the build up of Venezuelans troop on the country’s border is unwarranted. He said Venezuela should be focusing more on its internal issues.

“We expect that Venezuela should reconsider those deployments and increase in troops that they have on the border and just focus on improving the economic, social and political situation at home in Venezuela,” the Prime Minister urged.

Across the country today, Government agencies, schools, organisations and companies, took time to discuss the border controversy and drum up the patriotic theme.

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