US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio issued a strong warning to Venezuela today during his visit to Guyana” that if that country were to ever attack Guyana or ExxonMobil assets offshore Guyana, there will be serious consequences for Venezuela that will begin with a very bad day.

“It wold be a very bad day for the Venezuela regime if they were to attack Guyana or attack ExxonMobil or anything, it would be a very bad day and a very bad week for them, and it would not end well for them”, Rubio declared to loud applause from Guyana Government officials at a press conference in Georgetown with President Irfaan Ali.

Mr. Rubio said the US remains a partner of Guyana and will stand by Guyana’s side, noting that the US Government will not allow any illegitimate threats of a territorial claim by Venezuela against Guyana.

He said “I am not going to get into details of what we would do…I think everybody understands and we have made it clear repeatedly. I think the US Navy is today making it clear and demonstrating our ability, and we have a big Navy and it can get to almost anywhere in the world and we have commitments that exist today with Guyana and we want to build on those and expand on those, and we will leave it for the appropriate time, but suffice to say that if that regime were to do something such as that it would be a very bad move, it would be a big mistake”, he assured.

Hours before Mr. Rubio touched down in Guyana, the US Embassy and the Guyana Defence Force announced that the US Navy and the Guyana Coast Guard were conducting joint exercises offshore Guyana and within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone. That move comes two weeks after a Venezuelan Navy vessel made an incursion in Guyana’s waters and sailed to the various oil ships operating in Guyana to question the Captains via radio about their presence in the area.

Guyana had alerted the US and the international community to that latest act of aggression and the ongoing threats from Venezuela. The US Secretary of State was one of the first to condemn the actions of the Venezuelan Government. Today, he assured Guyana that the US has its back.

“I said this during my time as a Senator and I have full confidence in saying it now as Secretary of State, there will be consequences for adventurism. There will be consequences for aggressive action and that’s why our partnership in that regard is important. That is not what we want to be a feature of our relationship, but it is a necessity of our relationship, because you have a very difficult challenge on your hands with a dictator that is making illegitimate territorial claims. So you have our full commitment and support”, Rubio said.

The Government of Guyana and the US Government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will focus heavily on security, trade and other related matters. Mr. Rubio leaves Guyana this afternoon for neighbouring Suriname.

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