The defense partnership promises U.S. training, combined exercises and help watching Guyana’s skies, as President Irfaan Ali waits for a world court ruling on Venezuela’s claim to two-thirds of his country.
Guyana’s President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signed a Joint Declaration for an Enhanced Defense Partnership on Wednesday, October 21, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., deepening military cooperation between the two countries.
Under the declaration, the U.S. Department of War will provide defense expertise, multidomain training and combined exercises with the Guyana Defence Force, and help strengthen Guyana’s air-domain awareness, its ability to monitor and respond to activity in its airspace, News Source Guyana reported. The full text of the declaration has not been released.
What the defense partnership covers
The two countries committed to work together against narco-terrorist organizations and narcotrafficking, building on their roles in the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition and the Shield of the Americas. They also described Guyana’s pursuit of a memorandum of understanding with the United States on critical minerals as crucial to collective security and a shared defense industrial base.
Hegseth said the United States will step up combined training in multidomain operations and air interdiction. According to the Pentagon, the partnership is meant to help counter narco-terrorist networks, secure the Caribbean and resist military influence from outside the Western Hemisphere, Just The News reported. Hegseth tied the cooperation to President Donald Trump’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, Demerara Waves reported.
What Ali and Hegseth said
“Your leadership across the region with key Caribbean partners has been indispensable,” Hegseth told Ali. “Countries look to you. You’ve taken the lead, you’ve stepped out.” He said the defense partnership aims “to empower your sovereignty, your people, your security [and] your prosperity along with ours.”
Ali praised the push for a region “free from narco-trafficking, free from international actors that are bad for the region.” “This is the era of action; this is the era of leadership,” he said. “We look forward to working with you in a stronger way.”
The Office of the President said the declaration “is critical to the continued defense of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and builds on a multi-decade partnership with the United States that “spans security, energy, trade, and investment.”
The Essequibo backdrop to the defense partnership
The agreement comes as Guyana, now one of the world’s fastest-growing oil producers, awaits a ruling from the International Court of Justice in its long-running border dispute with Venezuela over the Essequibo region, which makes up about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.
Hearings in The Hague ended on May 11, and Ali has said Guyana expects a judgment by early 2027, Caribbean National Weekly reported. At the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, he urged Venezuela “to abide by the forthcoming ruling in accordance with their obligation under the UN Charter.”
Venezuela, now led by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez after U.S. forces removed Nicolás Maduro in January, still rejects the court’s jurisdiction, though it took part in the hearings. Rodríguez reaffirmed Venezuela’s “historic rights” over the Essequibo at the UN on September 23 and called on Guyana “to return to negotiations,” The Rio Times reported. None of the published remarks from Wednesday’s signing mentioned Venezuela by name.
What the defense partnership does not include
Neither government announced a U.S. military base in Guyana. Public statements focused on training, exercises, capacity building and joint work against transnational threats.
The signing is the latest step in closer security ties between Georgetown and Washington, as Guyana works to modernize its defense forces and protect its borders, resources and maritime interests.
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