Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro continues its inexorable hybrid war against us. The latest salvo is last week’s inauguration of the bridge to Ankoko Island in the Cuyuni River, construction of which was started last May. As we have emphasized, as opposed to the “kinetic” wars going on in Ukraine and Gaza, in modern times, wars are resorted to only after the “hybrid” war tactics have foundered. The latter includes political, diplomatic, economic, and financial initiatives, along with the spreading of propaganda, criminality, infiltration by fifth columnists, or attacking important computer systems.
Lest some have forgotten, Ankoko Island formed part of the border with Venezuela consequent to the “full and final 1899 Arbitral Award”. We were awarded the eastern half of the island, which was duly demarcated by a Mixed Commission between 1901 and 1905. However, in October 1966, five months after our independence, and eight months after the Geneva Agreement was signed by Venezuela to chart the way forward to resolve their border controversy, Venezuelan troops invaded our half of Ankoko Island, established a military base, and have been illegally occupying it since.
When the bridge to Ankoko was completed, six months had not even elapsed since the time that Maduro had signed the Dec 14, 2023 Argyle Agreement that committed Venezuela and Guyana not to resort to force over the border controversy. That Agreement was supposed to defuse a claimed successful December 3rd referendum held by Maduro to authorize the annexation of “Guayana Esequiba”. Yet, in April, he signed the referendum decision into law, and in May, satellite images revealed that a bridge had been built from the Venezuelan mainland to Ankoko.
The Venezuelan Strategic Operational Commander of its National Armed Forces (FANB), Major General Domingo Hernández Larez, revealed that the move was the start of operations to implement the annexation of Essequibo: “Engineers of the territorial defensive system complied crossing the Cuyuni River through the campaign bridge to bring harmony and progress to our territory of the Guyana Essequibo State. Machinery will pass, we will build schools, universities, health centers, supply centers, interconnection tracks, commerce and many other productive projects in favour of our fellow Essequibans”.
Venezuela’s inauguration of the bridge must be seen for what it is: Venezuelan affirmation that it continues to aggressively pursue its annexation of Essequibo. President Ali saw it as that, and, addressing the GDF at Camp Ayanganna, declared, “As (Venezuela) seeks to further their illegitimate claim to our territory…we do not take lightly (to the provocation) and condemn the bridge that they would have built on territory that is not theirs.” Moving beyond condemnation, he offered a glimpse into our strategy to counter Venezuela’s aggression – diplomacy and defence capabilities: “We will continue to engage our friends and allies, we will continue to build our resilience.”
In the first “friends and allies” prong, the incoming Trump Administration is expected to take a much firmer stance against Maduro and Venezuela than his predecessor. This is not necessarily only because of our friendship, which has been strengthened immeasurably after March 2020; there are the common interests on hemispheric security, oil and democracy.
Earlier this month, Pres Ali visited SOUTHCOM’s Florida Headquarters and met their Director of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, Air Force Maj. Gen. Julian C. Cheater. Luckily for us, former US Ambassador Sara-Ann Lynch was at the meeting in her present role as “Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor, US SouthCom”.
On our “resilience”, we have been steadily and strategically augmenting our physical and manpower capabilities. While we may not be able to defeat Venezuela’s far larger military on our own, at a minimum, we can make them think twice by waging the type of asymmetric warfare we have seen deployed with success in the Mid East theatres. We have recommended establishing a military base in Essequibo.
In September, Pres Ali launched the “National Defence Institute” (NDI) which, he said, in partnership with the US National Defense University and The Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, is part of a much larger plan aimed at protecting and safeguarding Guyana’s national interests, particularly its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In reference to Venezuela’s hybrid warfare against us, in its inaugural “CEO Cybersecurity Workshop”, NDI Assistant Director Dr Seon Levius delivered a hard-hitting exposé on Venezuela’s orchestrated cyber operations targeting Guyana.
We would have to also counter Venezuela’s diplomatic efforts. In our own Caricom, fifth columnists like St Vincent’s Ralph Gonsalves have been cultivated to subvert initiatives like the agricultural “25 by 25” with its AgroAlba initiative.
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