U.S. to support Guyana Police Force, observers for Sept. elections

The United States of America (USA) has dedicated efforts to supporting the Guyana Police Force and local and international observers for the Regional and General Elections, U.S. Ambassador Nicole Theriot has said.

During an interview with reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday, the Ambassador said the Force reached out for this support.

“It was just a result of a request from the GPF that this was something they could use, and we’re happy to provide it. As you know, our elections, no matter how contentious they might be, are always peaceful for the most part, and so we do have a lot of expertise in that in the United States, so we were happy to help,” the Ambassador said.

She said the strength of Guyana’s democracy is a serious concern and, as such, officials from Las Vegas and Miami-Dade are expected to arrive in Guyana soon.

The U.S. Embassy will also have about 50 persons available to support observers on September 1.

“We’re also supporting the observers coming from the OAS, and we assisted with the embedded advisors in GECOM who took up their positions last week. They are from the UNDP — we assisted with that, although the funding came from the UK,” she said.

Additionally, the Ambassador said the observers are coordinating to avoid redundancy, including working with the Private Sector Commission, CARICOM, and the Carter Center.

She also said that the U.S. Embassy has met with GECOM, and based on feedback received, the U.S. believes that this will be a free and fair election if all protocols are followed as needed.

“Having those international observers there, having those party observers there, is going to be very instrumental,” Theriot said.