Dr Nand C Bardouille
In the latest sign of strong bilateral relations between the US and Guyana, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is travelling to this Anglophone South American country.
Guyana is one of three countries anchoring his official visit to the Caribbean.
In the works since last month, Rubio's reported visit to the US' third border includes Jamaica.
America's top diplomat will meet with several leaders of the Caricom, as well as with this bloc's chair, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley.
Rubio then travels on to Guyana and Suriname – the southern Caribbean's emergent petrostates.
In Guyana, Rubio and Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali will hold their first-ever in-person meeting.
It will take the form of a wide-ranging discussion, marking the start of a new era of US-Guyana relations.
Border games
Importantly, the expectation is this engagement will send a clear message to Venezuela – which is playing a high-risk, border-related game with Guyana.
Concerns about Guyana's sovereignty and territorial integrity will likely take centre stage, presenting Washington with an opportunity to reaffirm its unwavering support and commitment to Guyana's statehood.
Caracas has, once again, recently run afoul of Washington also factors into the timing of the secretary's visit to Guyana.
It takes place at a time when Washington is tightening the screws on Caracas, echoing the Venezuela-targeted "maximum pressure strategy" of Donald Trump's first term as US president.
Yet mistrust of Venezuelan intentions – the Guyana-Venezuela border dispute runs deep, as Caracas continues to take steps that fly in the face of international law and diplomatic norms.
In its bid to foment a border crisis with its easterly neighbour, Venezuela continues to up the ante.
In the wake of a serious border-related provocation it instigated earlier this month, Caracas dubbed President Ali the "Caribbean's Zelenskyy."
[caption id="attachment_1146345" align="alignnone" width="1024"] US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, meets with Barbados Prime Minister and Caricom chair Mia Mottley, at the US Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 26. via AP -[/caption]
The wider backdrop: the Essequibo subnational region is the centrepiece of Guyana-Venezuela relations, constituting the epicentre of the long-running border dispute between these two countries.
This dispute contextualises major hydrocarbon considerations, centring on Venezuela having the largest proved oil reserves in the world and Guyana (now primed to develop offshore gas) having become a "key contributor to global crude oil supply growth."
In 2015, ExxonMobil announced a significant oil find off the Essequibo coast.
This find and its subsequent development, helmed by US capital, have propelled Guyana into the upper echelons of the world's petrostates – impacting strategic and tactical calculations both in Caracas and Georgetown.
Notably, at Georgetown's initiative, the border dispute is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
