FLORIDA, USA – President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali visited US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) December 5 and met with SOUTHCOM’s commander, US Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, to discuss the US-Guyanese bilateral defense partnership and regional security.
The president’s visit is the latest demonstration of the deepening of the US partnership with the South American nation – a relationship SOUTHCOM is steadfastly committed to expanding and strengthening.
In addition to meeting with Holsey, president Ali engaged with SOUTHCOM leaders and staff during a roundtable discussion focused on security in Latin America and the Caribbean, and current US military support in the region.
The president was accompanied by Capt. (Ret) Gerry Gouveia, National Security Adviser; Brigadier Omar Khan, Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff; Col. Sheldon Howell, Guyana National Intelligence and Security Agency; Zulfikar Ally, Guyana Non-Resident ambassador to Mexico and deputy chief of mission to the United States of America; and COL Julius Skeete, GDF Defence Attaché in Washington DC.
The United States and Guyana enjoy a longstanding defense partnership. The partnership focuses on areas of mutual interest, including countering transnational criminal organizations, maritime security, disaster preparedness, humanitarian assistance, and human rights.
In 2021 and 2023, the Guyana Defence Force hosted the longstanding SOUTHCOM-sponsored multinational training exercise “Tradewinds” which included hundreds of defense and security personnel from multiple nations strengthening security partnerships and capabilities in the ground, air, sea and cyber domains.
Guyana also supports regional humanitarian assistance and disaster preparedness efforts and conducts routine training and engagements with the Florida National Guard under the US National Guard’s State Partnership Program.
Additionally, president Ali is a Distinguished William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies alum, which recognizes individuals and institutions for their contributions to security and defense education in the Americas. The award is named after former US Secretary of Defense and founder of the Perry Center, William J. Perry.
The visit marks the third visit to the command headquarters by a sitting foreign head of state this year. Paraguayan president Santiago Peña and Dominica’s prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit both met with leaders at SOUTHCOM this past summer.
SOUTHCOM is one of the nation’s six geographically-focused unified commands with responsibility for US military operations in the Caribbean, Central America and South America, as well as security cooperation with defense and public security forces in the region.
