U.S reinforces commitment to regional security through new agreement with Guyana

Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Godfrey Bess and Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, Admiral Craig S. Faller signing the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (Photo: Office of the President/January 12, 2021)

Guyana and the United States of America (U.S.A) has added new features to its longstanding military-to- military cooperation with the signing of an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement on Tuesday; strengthening security collaboration to combat shared transnational threats.

The agreement was signed by Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, Admiral Craig S. Faller on behalf of the Department of Defence of the United States of America and Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Godfrey Bess on behalf of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

Admiral Faller is currently in Guyana for a three-day visit and engaged in the signing event at State House as part of his planned activities.

Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, Admiral Craig S. Faller (Photo: Office of the President/January 12, 2021)

In brief remarks after the signing, Brigadier Bess said Faller’s presence in Guyana symbolises the excellent relations between the militaries of the USA and Guyana.

He said through the agreement, the two militaries will now be able to expand its partnership on issues like climate change, terrorism, trafficking narcotics and small arms and human trafficking among others.

“The GDF welcomes the increase cooperation…we now have greater predictability in our defence partnership and it is a formal basis for the exchange of services,” Brigadier Bess said.

Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Godfrey Bess addressing the gathering on Tuesday (Photo: Office of the President/January 12, 2021)

Meanwhile, Admiral Faller underscored the signing as a pivotal step forward together. He believes it builds on the momentum started with the visit of U.S Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo and reinforces the U.S commitment to regional security.

“This is a new era of defence partnership,” he added.

The agreement is expected to pave the way for exchanging goods or services of equal value to support future bilateral defence cooperation.

It will facilitate and increase interoperability, readiness, and effectiveness of the respective military forces through increase logistic cooperation.

Admiral Craig S. Faller saluting ranks of Guyana’s military on Tuesday (Photo: Office of the President/January 12, 2021)

The agreement allows for flexibility in identifying ways to support bilateral security cooperation. In this instance, the U.S. can provide fuel and meals to partner nations, like Guyana, to support U.S. led counter-narcotics operations in international waters, or the U.S. can loan specialized aviation maintenance equipment.

The agreement creates new opportunities to successfully plan and conduct future cooperation activities and further strengthen the security partnership.

The agreement will streamline the process of exchanging goods or services of equal value, allowing for greater focus on the resulting defence cooperation activities and goals.