GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — President Dr Irfaan Ali Saturday said Guyana has activated its “security architecture” after the United States bombed several military and other sites in Venezuela.

“We have activated our security plan to ensure the safety and security of the citizens of Guyana,” Ali told reporters, adding, “The security architecture is fully active.

“The Guyana Defence Force and the security forces are monitoring the situation, and Guyanese should be reassured that the Government is working to ensure the safety and security of our citizens,” he said.

President Ali said the the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett has also been updated on the developments and that the chief of defence staff, Brigadier Omar Khan, has been in contact with other security partners in the region.

“I will share information as it becomes available. Our entire security architecture and posture has been activated all morning,” he said.

He also said efforts were being made to hold an emergency summit of leaders of Caricom.

President Ali said he has spoken to ExxonMobil Guyana’s President Alistair Routledge concerning ExxonMobil’s operations offshore Guyana, where almost one million barrels of oil per day are being produced.

“They have been alerted and we’re working together,” he said.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had declared a state of emergency over what his Government called an “extremely serious military aggression” by the United States on the capital Caracas.

Multiple explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling aircraft flyovers, were heard around the city.

“Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and people,” the Venezuelan Government said.

Maduro had also called on the country’s forces to mobilise, condemning at the time what he called an “imperialist attack” on Venezuela.

Maduro had said in a statement that civilians and the army had been jointly deployed to safeguard national sovereignty and public order, describing the move as a unified effort involving the people, the military, and the police.

He said the Government would lodge formal complaints with the United Nations Security Council, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the Non-Aligned Movement, seeking international condemnation of the US.

The US Government had offered a US$50-million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro, who it then described since as a narco-terrorist and a key leader in the suspected narco-terrorist organisation Cartel de Los Soles.

Maduro and his wife have since been captured in a “large-scale” strike against Venezuela and they have been flown out of the country.

ALI…our entire security architecture and posture has been activated Photo: Naphtali Junior