El Sindicato is a serious threat to our national security

Apr 08, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor,
We need to move quickly and powerfully to stop the vicious Venezuelan crime cartel ‘El Sindicato’ from violating our borders and terrorizing our citizens.
Let me state categorically: this is our land and we cannot allow any foreign criminals or government to step into our territory and start a reign of terror, blackmailing, killing, raping and molesting of our people.
It really cut into my heart and soul that our miners are so fearful for their security that they found it necessary to put a paid advertisement in the newspapers asking for protection.
In the advertisement, they said heavily-armed El Sindicato gang members have set up bases in Guyana’s sovereign territory and are demanding food, cash and other valuables for safe passage in the areas they control.
This is a sad day for Guyana. Foreign criminals have come into our country and are bullying and terrorizing our people and think they can get away with it because we are too scared and too soft to do anything about it.
It makes our country appear weak, almost like our Minister of Security Khemraj Ramjattan and our military are afraid to confront them. The only proper response is a strong counter-attack to let these criminals know that we run things here.
Throughout the world, criminal organisations in North America, Europe and elsewhere have been known to create insurrections, revolutions and wars to destabilize nations and overthrow governments.
It is well known that organised criminals and their warlords try to set up mini-states within states to control mineral wealth and get political power and they do so by extreme violence that causes pain, suffering, terror and confusion.
El Sindicato might even be encouraged by the government of Venezuela, which has been involved in all kinds of lawlessness against its own people, and is suspected to be under the control of certain cartels and criminal personalities.
We cannot overlook the possibility that El Sindicato might be an agent of the Venezuelan Government and we have to do everything in our power to call on our citizens, if necessary, to help the military and the police deal with this threat.
Frankly, I am not inspired by Minister Ramjattan’s response. He seems to think that the police alone can deal with this matter. He is quoted in the media as saying that police officers are being sent to Barima/Waini, near the Venezuela border.
I am surprised that he thinks police can deal with what is essentially a Venezuelan invasion by a criminal gang, possibly in cahoots with its government, hurting and destroying our resources, business and miners and terrifying expatriates.
This is not a police matter; this is a military matter. This is a matter of national self defense and national security. Our police force is not trained to deal with invasions of this kind; this is military warfare.
El Sindicato comprises former military officers and is a serious threat to our national security and must be dealt with seriously.
I would be surprised if President Granger is not already having discussions with his military experts to plan a forceful military campaign to tackle this serious Venezuelan threat.
My suggestion is: bring on board strategy masters of the GDF and police force and all brilliant former director generals and army heads to strategise and prevent El Sindicato from taking over our country.
This is a time for a decisive military thrust that completely eliminates threat, like the historical “Operation Greenheart” when our military genius Ishoff expelled the Surinamese from the New River Triangle, which they attempted to claim.
In the planning and execution of this military exercise, the government and army need to bring members of civic society on board who are patriotic and have the experience in security matters to contribute significantly to the operation.
El Sindicato is a serious threat to Guyana’s national security. I cannot belabour this point enough. We have to be dead serious in the way we respond and we have to launch a united defence using all our security resources.
This is a militaristic group, not just ordinary criminals; they must be dealt with accordingly. We cannot allow a foreign gang of brigands to terrorise our citizens and occupy Guyana illegally.
Word has it that they are involved in their own illegal mining and scraping away our topsoil and damaging our environment without respect for our mining laws and regulations. We have got to do something to stop this.
Let us do what we have to do. We can involve the Brazilians, our finest neighbours and Caricom. This is not a criminal matter; this is a foreign invasion by a crime cartel that is probably being orchestrated by the Venezuelan government.
I have suggested before that Guyana can consider inviting the United States military to set up a free military base in that area where they can practice their jungle warfare guerrilla warfare strategies.
This will definitely provide us with a certain amount of protection. They may not accept this idea but, who knows? It’s worth a try, especially now as our oil industry is about to bloom.
Furthermore, Guyanese people have no problem with America. Many of our people live there and it is assumed that our population based there is about the same size of our current population. So we definitely will welcome them here.
Also, our military will have a chance to do some real soldier work with the US armed forces, rather than just being in barracks.
I mentioned in a previous letter that the commercial windfall, if the American military agrees to this opportunity, would also be tremendous.
It is time to work with the Americans to safeguard ourselves.

Roshan Khan Snr.

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