Budget 2024: Gov’t plans to step up defence spending

The government will this year increase budgetary allocations for the defence sector so that Guyana’s defence assets, including its personnel, are well-equipped to deal with any challenges, President Dr. Irfaan Ali said.

“There have been active plans to step up spending in the security sector, not only hardware but human resources,” the President said in a year end interview with the News Room.

Before the end of 2023, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) received $1.2 billion in supplementary funding. President Ali said funds for the GDF are to build technical capacity and purchase or upgrade assets such as coast guard, maritime and air vessels.

The President also revealed that cyber security is an increasingly big focus of the government.

“I said before, as we grow, the threats will become more sophisticated and the types of criminals will be more sophisticated,” he explained.

The focus on developing the defence sector comes amid heightened tensions surrounding the Guyana/ Venezuela border controversy. President Ali, however, made it clear that Guyana is purely focused on defence and is not planning any attacks or aggressive actions.

President Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro met in December in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Following their meeting, there was an 11-point declaration which includes a commitment from both sides to “refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict.”

Both leaders also agreed to meet again in three months in Brazil.

That meeting was brokered after Venezuela held a December 3 referendum that many feared would be used to greenlight a potential seizure of two-thirds of Guyana’s territory- the entire Essequibo region- that the Spanish-speaking nation has claimed for decades.

Subsequently, President Maduro issued a redrawn Venezuelan map that includes Guyana’s territory, told investors to leave and planned activities in the Essequibo region.

Guyana has maintained that the territory is its own after an 1899 Arbitral Award determined the boundary between the two countries as is internationally-recognised.

Because of Venezuelan aggressions and decades of failed talks, Guyana eventually took the border controversy to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where the case is ongoing. Guyana hopes for a final, binding judgement that affirms that the Essequibo is its own.