By: Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News |
Tensions unfolded at the United Nations Security Council this week as Guyana issued a stark warning about what it described as serious and escalating threats to its sovereignty, while the United States outlined its determination to confront drug trafficking in the region and Venezuela rejected accusations, placing blame on Washington for regional instability.
The Security Council met on Tuesday to address Venezuela’s concerns over recent United States actions in the Caribbean and Latin America. During the session, Guyana’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Tashala Prasad, told council members that Guyana’s peace and security are being “gravely threatened,” warranting urgent international attention.
Ambassador Prasad said Guyana is among the states most affected by these threats, pointing to Venezuela’s continued defiance of international law, including binding orders of the International Court of Justice. She noted that through presidential decrees and legislative actions, Venezuela has sought to unlawfully annex more than two-thirds of Guyana’s sovereign territory.
According to Prasad, Venezuela has also increased its military presence along Guyana’s borders in what she described as an attempt to intimidate the country without resorting to outright territorial seizure. She added that these actions disregard the internationally recognised boundary between the two states.
The Guyanese diplomat further accused Venezuela of facilitating the transport of illicit drugs into Guyana, engaging in illegal gold mining, and smuggling Guyanese gold out of the country. She stressed that drug trafficking has long destabilised the region, fuelling crime and violence, weakening state institutions, promoting corruption, and financing conflict and terrorism.
Prasad emphasised that closer collaboration with international partners across South, Central and North America, as well as the Caribbean, is both essential and urgent. She called for collective action to preserve regional stability and to protect the Caribbean’s long-standing status as a zone of peace.
Meanwhile, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Walls, told the Council that Washington will use its full capacity to confront and dismantle drug cartels operating across the hemisphere. He stated that the United States does not recognise Nicolás Maduro or his associates as the legitimate government of Venezuela, describing Maduro as a fugitive from American justice and alleging links to transnational criminal networks.
The U.S. ambassador further claimed that Venezuela’s most recent elections were illegitimate, asserting that the international community has evidence to support that position.
In response, Venezuela’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Makada, rejected the accusations and said his country is being unfairly targeted. He told the Council that Venezuela is the first target of what he described as a broader United States strategy to divide and dominate the region. Makada accused Washington of carrying out aggressive actions in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, which he said violate international law and human rights.
The exchange underscored deepening regional divisions, as Guyana continues to seek international support in defending its territorial integrity amid rising geopolitical tensions.
