Securing Guyana – A Defence Strategy

Jan 11, 2009 Peeping Tom

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Peter R. Ramsaroop, MBA
Chairman, Vision Guyana

INTRODUCTION:

If one was to conduct a sample poll on our National Defence Strategy, most will say it is non-existent. Most of the answers I received were “joint forces or fighting crime force”. We need a vision on how to secure Guyana given that one of our largest neighbours, Venezuela, is acquiring nuclear technology and is posturing itself in aggressive military action against western ideology. This must be on our list of future threats. We are all aware of Suriname’s aggressive posture against Guyana.

We must be aggressive in developing a National Security Plan that embraces modernisation of our defence force and adding a civil defence component that can be utilized in both peacetime and in conflicts. Having served in the US military for over 17 years, I realized the importance of defining the strategy, pre-planning and testing of the plan.

I was amazed when we arrived in the Middle East in the 1990/1991 Gulf War, the US military had already pre-positioned supplies in the case of a conflict since the 1950s in the region. I remembered commenting that someone had a vision of defence long before that conflict arose.

Establishing the Vision:

We are all aware that since 1992, the military forces, equipment and strategy were diminished by the current PPP administration. Generals, such as MG Joe Singh and BG Grainger, were part of a strategy of protecting our borders in the previous government.

As the current administration became more entrenched in cutting defence, Generals such as MG Atherley and BG Collins had to stand up and fight for every piece of equipment, size of the force and training dollars.

What we have today is a reduced force that has been for the most part relegated to a police force. The need to catch the vision that a strong defence is the foundation of peace and the need to analyze all of our threats is critical. This must then be costed and implemented.

Countering Our Threats:

We have three main borders, and two of these borders are currently in a conflict environment with Guyana, yet we have had no national policy to address these pending threats. In addition it was reported that a majority of the drugs passing through Guyana to North America has recently come from Venezuela.
Over the last decade, we as a nation have had no response to aggressions by Suriname and Venezuela.

Venezuela military action last year against our citizens went away without any formal complaints to the UN. We sold our sovereignty for a few barrels of oil. The recent Suriname aggression in our waters once again brought no real response by our government. I believe our military must have been happy that we did not have to respond because they did not have the resources to compete with both of these forces.

Funding a National Security Plan:

The reason I put this column early in January is because it is important that our 2009 budget includes allocations for our military. It is not about some great Christmas party or bonus at Christmas time, but a long term commitment to our national defence and to ensure that it at all time has the right resources (Manpower, equipment and training) to serve our nation in the time of need. We must allocate the right amount of dollars to the costing of our National Security Plan.

National Civil Service (NCS)

I would like to take this opportunity to once again propose a National Civil Service. (NCS) The 18-25 age groups are the largest population in our nation. Given our economic decline and the scarcity of jobs, it is imperative that we create such a force, similar in concept to our previous national service in order to train our young people with skill sets that they can utilize in the future and at the same time contributing to our national development.

This force can be used in areas of infrastructure, drainage and agriculture. A large portion of money that is given to a few contractors can be allocated to this force. Ultimately these young people will not only be a labour force but develop skill sets that can improve our national infrastructure.

Implementing a National Strategy:

There is a National Defence Board that is headed by Dr. Luncheon who is also the Head of the Presidential Secretariat. As far as I am aware, he has never had any experience in the Military or served in a capacity that understands the threats we face as a nation in the various sectors. We need to engage experts in defence and foreign policy to head this Board.

With his very full schedule and duties as Head of the Presidential Secretariat, serving part time as head of our Defence Board tells the tale of why our national defence strategy has been a farce. We need dedicated, qualified men and women to serve in this capacity.

Conclusion:

I am in favour given our limited resources of expanding our military in counter-drug fighting, in addition to border protection. Working with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) will be critical in this process. This may bring additional funding to the force. Gaining national consensus to a solid defence plan will not be difficult. We need to recreate a national sense of pride.

We need to protect our flag and sovereignty at all times. Engaging friendly forces such as the American and British can continue to enhance our national posture to deal with the insurgent attempts by Venezuela and Suriname. Every Guyanese is proud of this nation and will stand up for the country. What we need is a national defence plan that embraces our security.

There is not a great need for national consultation, what we need to know is that our defence forces are adequate, that they are given modern equipment and they are given the authority to respond to international aggression. Gather the experts such as our past Generals to develop this architecture plan with defined roles, assessments and responses. Until Next time “Roop”.

Send comments to [email protected] or www.visionguyana.com

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