US to give Guyana $2m in drones to track drug and illegal flights
Ambassador Nicole Theriot says the surveillance equipment will show where drug flights come from and where they go, and pledges cyber security support.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana. The United States plans to give Guyana grant aid worth US$2m to acquire high-technology drones and other unmanned equipment to track illegal narcotics flights and other overflights, officials said this week.
The surveillance equipment is due to go into service shortly. It follows a coastal radar system donated to the Guyana Defence Force in the past year, which allows the military to monitor shipping off the coast and in major waterways.
"Everyone knows that we stand shoulder to shoulder with Guyana and we are so passionate about your territorial integrity," US Ambassador Nicole Theriot told reporters.
She said US companies interested in working in Guyana routinely asked about political stability and security. "All those drug flights that we have seen increase over the last year, we are going to know exactly where they are coming from and where they are going," she said.
Investment and China
The issue was also discussed in depth during an early September visit to Guyana by US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who pushed for increased American investment in the oil and gas-rich nation.
Washington has repeatedly expressed concern about the growing level of Chinese investment in Guyana and neighbouring Caribbean countries over the past decade. Local officials have argued that Chinese investors are more enthusiastic about investing abroad and make fewer demands of the government and private sector.
Cyber security
Ms Theriot said the US was also interested in helping Guyana improve its cyber security capabilities, particularly as technology companies focus on establishing large data centres in the country.
"As Guyana is moving to build data centres, or maybe multiple data centres, that is definitely something that you are going to need," she said. "We are working very hard to increase our intelligence sharing with the government of Guyana and it requires systems that are working on both sides."
