Chief of the Guyana Defense Force, Brigadier Omar Khan, at a press conference in Georgetown, Guyana, May 16, 2025. Photo: GDF.
Mere days before the National Assembly and governorship elections in Venezuela, the Chief of Defense Staff of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF), Brigadier Omar Khan, announced that any Venezuelan participating in the elections in the Essequibo “will be arrested and deported.”
Thus, the Guyanese authorities are trying to prevent Venezuelan participation in the elections to be held on May 25, elections that include Guayana Esequiba, the 24th state of Venezuela, which is a region historically claimed by Venezuela but de facto administered by Guyana. Meanwhile, the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela is moving forward with the electoral procedures, and the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) is conducting dispatch and custody of electoral material throughout Venezuela.
On Thursday, May 15, Brigadier Khan declared that whoever “participates in these elections will face consequences” and “any Venezuelan resident in Guyana who participates in these elections will be arrested and deported.”
However, Khan declined to directly attribute a series of recent border skirmishes to the Venezuelan military, in the wake of reports that troops from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) came under automatic fire three times this week from armed people operating across the Cuyuni River.
“These are armed men in civilian clothing,” Brigadier Khan told reporters at a press briefing in Georgetown on Thursday. “I do not like to tag people to a particular group.”
The attacks, described as “unprecedented” by Khan, took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Baboon, an area where armed men allegedly stop civilian boats and extort money in exchange for safe passage. The gunmen opened fire on GDF patrols in three separate incidents, prompting return fire by the soldiers, Khan said. No injuries were reported in these skirmishes.
On Friday, May 16, the Venezuelan government criticized the Guyanese defense chief’s statements and attempts to hold Venezuela responsible for the attacks on Guyanese forces.
In an official statement, the Venezuelan Defense Ministry highlighted that all records, reports and evidence gathered by the FANB show that such allegations are part of a “new false flag operation” orchestrated by US imperialist and oil interests to victimize the government of Guyana and generate tensions along the de facto border.
“These practices, widely repudiated by the international community, are part of the repertoire of cheap propaganda designed in the laboratories of the US Southern Command, whose real interest is to perpetuate the transnational plundering of the resources of Guayana Esequiba,” the document states.
The Venezuelan government emphasized that it will not fall for provocations or lies, and reiterated that on May 25, the Venezuelan people will democratically elect the authorities of the state of Guayana Esequiba.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/SC/DZ
