Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, 17:04 by Written By Denis Chabrol
United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali signed a “landmark” agreement at the Pentagon on Wednesday, creating an enhanced defense partnership between the two countries.
“Your leadership across the region with key Caribbean partners has been indispensable,” Hegseth told Ali, according to a Department of War statement. “Countries look to you. You’ve taken the lead, you’ve stepped out, laying the foundation for what we’re doing in the hemisphere.”
The Secretary noted the shared challenges include narco-terrorism and military influence from outside the Western Hemisphere. He added that by exercising President Donald J. Trump’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the two nations will push back on those threats.
“We’ve only just begun on that project, and your investment has inspired confidence for us,” Hegseth said. “I hope you’ve seen that our investment has inspired confidence in you, in security forces, in our militaries and in the landmark joint declaration today to further elevate our defense cooperation on our all-domain partnership.”
Hegseth said that with the right means, the two nations can solve these issues, “to empower your sovereignty, your people, your security [and] your prosperity along with ours.”
The United States will intensify combined training in multidomain operations and in air interdiction, he said.
Regarding critical minerals, Guyana’s pursuit of a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. is crucial to the nations’ collective security and will bolster a shared defense industrial base.
The Guyanese president said there’s been a lot of talk about security and stability for a long time.
“The things that are critical for stability in the region, sustainable [for] long-term prosperity and stability, are the very things you’re pursuing — a region that’s free from narco-trafficking, free from international actors that are bad for the region, free from terrorism and free from any thinking from any group or cell anywhere in the world that this is a region where they can find a home,” Ali said, adding that he looks forward to working more closely with the United States.
“This is the era of action; this is the era of leadership; this is the era of domination and commitment, and we’re very happy to be part of this partnership,” he said. “We look forward to working with you in a stronger way.”
