-
- President Ali speaks from Essequibo on Diamond Jubilee
- Guyana rise to global economic powerhouse
GEORGEOWN, Guyana, (DPI) – Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, used the eve of Guyana’s 60th Independence anniversary to deliver one of his strongest public statements yet on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, telling the nation and the world that the territory is, and will remain, Guyanese.
At the grand Flag Raising ceremony deliberately held on Fort Island, Essequibo, on Monday night, the president left no room for ambiguity, declaring that all 159,000 square kilometres belong to Guyana.
“The Essequibo is Guyana’s. It has never been Venezuelan. Nor was it ever Spanish,” he declared, referencing the 1899 Arbitral Award as the anchor of Guyana’s legal position. “Guyana has indisputably included Essequibo. It is and will remain Guyanese.”
The choice of venue alone carried weight. Celebrating the 60th Diamond Jubilee on Essequibo soil, president Ali said, was an assertion of a fundamental truth: the territory belongs completely to Guyana. The address came amid heightened tensions over the long-running border controversy, with Venezuela claiming more than two-thirds of Guyana’s sovereign territory.
President Ali pointedly called out Venezuela’s acting president for declaring publicly before the International Court of Justice that Venezuela would not accept a ruling in Guyana’s favour.
“This is not the language of a neighbour. This is not the language of international law. This is not the language of peace. That is why tonight, my language cannot be ambiguous,” the commander-in-chief said.
The ICJ, which has affirmed its jurisdiction to hear the matter, is currently deliberating after both sides submitted memorials and concluded oral hearings. Guyana has expressed full confidence in its case.
Despite the firm tone, president Ali drew a clear distinction between Venezuela’s government and its people, extending what he called a hand of friendship to ordinary Venezuelans who, he said, share a common Caribbean and South American heritage with Guyanese.
“We hold no malice toward the people of Venezuela,” he said, adding that when the matter is resolved, Guyana stands ready to work with Venezuela toward a hemisphere that is safer and more prosperous for all.
He was equally clear, however, that Guyana’s defence of its sovereignty would be pursued through courts and diplomacy and not aggression. “Never through war,” the Commander-in-Chief declared.
President Ali also expressed gratitude to the United States Government, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States (OAS), and all partner nations around the world for their unwavering support of Guyana’s sovereignty.
Tonight, on this 60th Anniversary of our independence, we say to all the people of those nations, and their governments, with immense gratitude in our hearts. Thank you for standing with us.”
Meanwhile, president Ali hails Guyana’s rise to global economic powerhouse, from a young nation with a gross domestic product (GDP) of just $229 million to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies worth more than USD 75 billion, Guyana’s 60-year journey since Independence has been defined by resilience, sacrifice, and transformation.
President Ali said Guyana was a fractured nation in 1966, shaped by colonial division, facing a territorial challenge from Venezuela before independence had barely taken hold. Many predicted it would not survive, but it did.
“We are today, the fastest growing economy on earth,” he declared. “Not in this hemisphere, not in the Caribbean – but on an entire planet. And we did that together as One People, One Nation, One Destiny. We did that as One Guyana.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that Guyana led the world with an average real GDP growth of 47 percent per year between 2022 and 2024, with the country recording double-digit growth for six consecutive years.
Oil production from the offshore Stabroek Block now surpasses 915,000 barrels per day, making Guyana South America’s third-largest oil producer. And for the first time in Guyana’s history, the national budget crossed one trillion Guyanese dollars in 2024.
Per capita income, once recorded at around $340, is projected to approach $38,000 by 2028. While these numbers say a lot, President Ali drew a clear line between what those figures represent on paper and what transformation actually looks like for the Guyanese people.
The president pointed to roads and bridges as the clearest evidence. Between 2020 and 2025, more than 10,000 roads and 430 bridges were reconstructed and rehabilitated across the country, reaching communities that independence itself had left behind.
A landmark US$100 million STEM initiative, developed in partnership with ExxonMobil and anchored at the University of Guyana, was also cited as part of the foundation being laid for the next generation.
President Ali also pointed to Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF) as evidence that the country is managing its oil wealth with future generations in mind. The oil beneath Guyana’s waters, he told the gathering, is not the property of any government.
“It is a patrimony of our people. It belongs to every Guyanese who came before us, and to every Guyanese yet to be born,” the president said.
The president also charged the young people of Guyana, stating that they are not responsible for the divisions of the past but are fully responsible for the unity of the future.
You are the generation that will fully, and irreversibly make Guyana whole.”