Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud’s recent Facebook post was not just a warning — it was an admission that Guyana is facing a slow-moving crisis that could soon spiral out of control. By acknowledging that nearly 100,000 persons of Venezuelan ancestry now reside in Guyana, the government has placed a glaring statistic before us: this influx has increased Guyana’s population from approximately 750,000 to 850,000 — a 13% jump in just a few years.
This is no minor demographic shift. It’s the equivalent of adding an entire city the size of Georgetown to our population — without the infrastructure, planning, or national security oversight to match. One social media user pointedly observed: “100,000 is about 25% of our Army.” That alone should shake the political establishment out of its complacency.
We are no longer dealing with a benign humanitarian issue. Migration, when left unmanaged amid rising geopolitical threats, becomes a national security liability. And the people of Guyana — from Linden to Lethem — are rightfully sounding the alarm.
Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon stated it plainly: “100,000 Venezuelans in Guyana! For the most part, the people of this country were deliberately brought to this point, to now be told, this is our problem. We must ‘stay alert.’”
These concerns come as Venezuela escalates its aggression, from the illegal construction of a bridge to Ankoko Island, to the planned sham elections in the Essequibo on May 25. The recent armed attack on Guyanese soldiers in Eteringbang only deepens the alarm.
In response, President Irfaan Ali has declared, “We are not sitting back.” But the public has heard these words before — with little action to show. Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has rightly criticised the government’s failure to deliver on security promises, including a national public relations campaign and bipartisan foreign policy cooperation. The government’s refusal to hand over the chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee, despite prior commitments, further exposes its reluctance to share responsibility in this national fight.
Guyana needs more than words. It needs a decisive, unified national strategy. That means reconvening the Foreign Relations Committee and National Security Committee immediately, not for optics, but as working bodies with real authority and bipartisan input.
Moreover, migration policy must be reexamined. Welcoming those fleeing hardship is one thing — failing to track, manage, and prepare for their impact is another. It’s time to vet this population carefully, protect border communities, and reinvest in the weak administrative presence along our 3,000-kilometre border.
President Ali has a duty to lead not just a government response, but a whole-of-nation defense strategy. That means inviting the opposition, civil society, the private sector, and our diaspora into meaningful dialogue and coordinated action.
A 13% increase in population — unplanned, unmanaged, and in the middle of a territorial crisis — is a red flag. There are 100,000 reasons for urgency, and Guyana cannot afford to waste another day. What we need now is not reassurance, but resolve.
