Relationship dossier
Guyana
United States
Relationship assessment
Guyana and the United States sustain close security cooperation, with U.S. support for Guyana’s sovereignty and substantial economic ties.
Guyana toward United States
+55Guyana has engaged the United States in security and law-enforcement cooperation and has welcomed U.S. involvement in regional security. Guyana’s cooperation with the United States is also supported by trade and energy investment ties.
United States toward Guyana
+55The United States has supported Guyana’s sovereignty amid its dispute with Venezuela over Essequibo and has conducted security cooperation with Guyana, including joint military flight operations in 2023. U.S. trade and investment, particularly in energy, are also important elements of the relationship.
Overall relationship
+50The bilateral relationship combines sustained security engagement, U.S. support for Guyana’s sovereignty in the Essequibo dispute, and substantial trade and energy investment. These features make the relationship close and strategically significant, while falling short of a formal mutual-defense commitment.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Guyana and the United States maintain a substantially cooperative relationship, including sustained security and law-enforcement engagement and U.S. support for Guyana’s sovereignty amid its dispute with Venezuela over Essequibo. Their cooperation also encompasses trade and energy investment. The partnership is active and consequential, though not equivalent to a formal defense alliance.
Key developments
U.S. and Guyanese forces conducted joint military flight operations amid heightened tensions over Venezuela’s claim to the Essequibo region.
Major uncertainties
- The long-term scope of U.S.–Guyana security cooperation is unclear.
- The extent and durability of bilateral energy and investment cooperation may change with policy and commercial conditions.