Commander of US Southern Command to visit Guyana for defence and security talks

The visit is expected to focus on discussions about the bilateral security partnership between the United States and Guyana, the US embassy in Georgetown has announced today.

Commander of US Southern Command to visit Guyana for defence and security talks

US Army General, Laura Richardson who is the Commander of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), will visit Guyana from the 29th to the 31st August to meet with government and defense leaders.

The visit is expected to focus on discussions about the bilateral security partnership between the United States and Guyana, the US embassy in Georgetown has announced today.

 The embassy said, Gen. Richardson is visiting Guyana ten months after assuming duties as SOUTHCOM’s commander and nearly five months after meeting with Caribbean Defense and Public Security leaders during the 2022 Caribbean Nations Security Conference in April in Bridgetown, Barbados. 

“During her two-day stay in Georgetown, she will meet with U.S. Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch, President of Guyana His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and Guyana Defence Forces (GDF) Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess. Richardson will also join Guyana’s First Lady Arya Ali and Ambassador Lynch in welcoming participants of the Caribbean Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Conference, which Guyana will host August 29-September 1 in partnership with the Florida National Guard,” the US embassy said of the imminent visit.

General Richardson is the first woman to head the US Southern Command.

 The embassy said the United States and Guyana have a longstanding history of security cooperation and that thee defense partnership between the two countries includes collaboration against regional threats and challenges, capacity-building exercises, bilateral training, expertise exchanges, events fostering the inclusion of women in defense and security missions, and professional development engagements. 

SOUTHCOM is one of the Defense Department’s six geographically focused unified commands with responsibility for security cooperation with defense and public-security forces in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. 

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