President Irfaan Ali today said he has taken note of the rising tension between United States (US) and Venezuela, the possible implications for the Caribbean Region as a zone of peace, and the stark warning issued to both Guyana and Trinidad by the Venezuelan Minister of Defence, that Caracas will retaliate if any attack against Venezuela is launched from either of the two countries.

“Let me say very clearly that our sovereignty is our sovereignty; and what we do in relation to our sovereignty is our business,” the President said.

In the past two weeks, the US military has carried out two air strikes on two vessels from Venezuela that were suspected of ferrying narcotics.

The first strike killed 11 persons, while 3 persons were killed in the second strike just yesterday.

Questioned about whether he had concerns about those strikes and the taking of lives as against capture and prosecution, President Ali said as a government and as a people, Guyana’s priority is to ensure that the Region remains a zone of peace. However, he said Guyana is also cognizant of the impact that crime has on the Region and its people.

“Whilst our priority is to ensure that this region remains a zone of peace, we are also conscious of the impact of transnational crime, drug trafficking and other forms of elicited illicit activities, and impact it can have on our people, the region, and our economy here and the region,” the President said.

Trinidad and Tobago Guyana, Ecuador, Paraguay and Argentina are part of a US-led international coalition backing the crackdown on drug cartels in the region.

President Ali said CARICOM and US are working together through the coalition to combat transnational crimes and that is no secret.

However, there have been growing international concerns about the legality of the unilateral killing of persons suspected to be drug traffickers.

But President Ali said what he is concerned about is the continuous use of international waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone of various countries by criminals.

“We are continuously concerned about criminals using international waters or countries exclusive economic zone in destroying economies, destroying countries, destroying people. For a matter of fact, we have raised an alert about the over flights over Guyana of suspected narco-traffickers and drug planes, and they over flight over Guyana and we have been taking to our partners to help support us in terms of our air surveillance and tracking system. Because we don’t want our territory to be used, we don’t want our land or sea to be used for by any criminal network. So that is of concern to me,” the President said.  

He said Guyana has a duty and responsibility to make the necessary investment to secure its borders and people, and the region, to allow it to remain a zone of peace.

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