Visiting Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, Admiral Craig S. Faller on Tuesday said that the United States of America (U.S.A) has no plans to set up military bases in Guyana as part of growing its presence in the Western Hemisphere.
He went further to say that there is no interest by the U.S.A to set up bases anywhere in the hemisphere.
Admiral Faller was at the time responding to questions from the local press corps during the signing of an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement at State House in Georgetown.
“We seek to have the right military presence as invited by our sovereign partners,” he said.
Faller explained that the U.S.A military would only come to states in the region at the request of mutually agreed partnerships and not through forced intervention.
But even on a request, that will have will to be for a specific exchange exercise or training.
“Our future presence will be determined by our host and friends and that presence will be in the form of exercises and training,” he added.
The clarification comes days after the United States reiterated its support for Guyana in the border controversy with Venezuela.
Faller was also asked about the support of the U.S.A military in response to aggression from Venezuela; he would only say that his country supports a peaceful resolution of the controversy and respect for the ongoing judicial process.
“We want to work hard on education and training so we never have to fight… the US supports the international process in place for a peaceful resolution,” he added.
He assured that the focus now is working on areas to enhance bilateral relationships.
“Every nation deserves the right to sovereignty and to make sovereign decisions over its resources,” he added when asked about possible incursions against U.S oil giant, ExxonMobil, which is currently producing oil in the maritime/ economic zones being claimed by Venezuela.
Guyana’s Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess also echoed similar sentiments; he asserted that Guyana stands committed to a peaceful resolution of the situation.
“With regards to support, Guyana will continue to have cooperation in what we call defence diplomacy where we will continue to build our capacity,” Brigadier Bess said.
