Guy Expo 2026 is positioning investment, innovation and enterprise at the centre of Guyana’s next phase of economic opportunity, as the four-day exhibition prepares to bring businesses, customers, investors and partners together at the National Exhibition Centre, Sophia, from November 12 to 15.

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Susan Rodrigues, officially launched Guy Expo 2026 at the National Exhibition Centre, describing the longstanding exhibition as an important platform for showcasing Guyanese talent, creativity and enterprise while creating opportunities for businesses to expand and build new partnerships.

“The future is shaped by the investments we make today,” Minister Rodrigues said, underscoring the central message of this year’s Expo, which is being held under the theme, “Creating Tomorrow’s Opportunities Through Today’s Investments.”

Guy Expo, which began in 1995, has grown from a local exhibition into a major business platform where enterprises can showcase their products and services, connect with customers, build partnerships and explore new markets.

The 30th anniversary edition held last year was the largest in the Expo’s history at the time.

Minister Rodrigues said the 2026 theme reflects the direction in which Guyana is moving, noting that future opportunities depend on investments being made today in businesses, skills, technology, infrastructure and ideas.

She pointed out that investment is not limited to large scale capital, but also includes a small business owner purchasing new equipment, an entrepreneur investing in training, a manufacturer improving product quality or a young person developing a new skill.

“These decisions may seem small on their own but collectively they build stronger businesses, create employment and expand the opportunities available to our people,” she said.

The minister said Guy Expo will continue to provide businesses with opportunities for business to business engagement, allowing exhibitors to meet potential customers, partners, investors and suppliers while exploring avenues to enter new markets.

The growing tourism sector is also creating new opportunities for Guyanese businesses.

She noted that Guyana welcomed 453,489 visitors in 2025, while 320,174 visitors had already arrived by the end of August 2026. August recorded 48,582 arrivals, the highest August on record.

With visitor arrivals projected to exceed 500,000 by year end and an ambition of reaching one million visitors by 2030, Rodrigues said the growth presents opportunities for hotels, restaurants, tour operators, transportation providers, artisans, farmers, entertainers and community businesses.

At the same time, access to finance remains an important component of business development, with the Guyana Development Bank providing another avenue for entrepreneurs to access financing of up to $3 million, alongside technical assistance and business development support.

Through its agencies and programmes, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce is also supporting entrepreneurs through training, business development, standards, market access and other forms of assistance.

“Our objective is to see more Guyanese businesses growing, employing more people, producing more locally and becoming competitive in regional and international markets,” Minister Rodrigues said.

Guy Expo 2026 will provide exhibitors with opportunities to forge connections, identify new customers, develop partnerships and explore avenues for growth.

As Guy Expo moves beyond its first 30 years, the focus is now turning towards the businesses, products, markets and opportunities that will shape its next chapter and contribute to a more dynamic Guyanese economy.

DPI

Source: Village Voice News

By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News |

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — Senior law enforcement commanders, intelligence chiefs, and security delegates from across the Western Hemisphere have convened in Georgetown for the 27th INTERPOL Americas Regional Conference, a high-level summit focused on dismantling transnational organized crime networks, interdicting cross-border contraband, and curbing an alarming surge in global financial fraud.

The two-day conference, which officially opened on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, provides a collaborative operational platform for member states to assess emerging criminal trends, harmonize investigative methods, and deploy practical law enforcement tools to protect vulnerable populations throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.

Guyana’s hosting of the biennial security conference coincides with significant milestones in its institutional participation within the global policing architecture, having formally joined INTERPOL on October 1, 1968. The nation’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Georgetown, embedded directly within the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), serves as the 24/7 communications and intelligence pipeline linking local detectives to 196 member countries worldwide.

Border Vulnerabilities and Proactive Defense

Delivering the keynote address to open the assembly, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips stressed that Guyana’s unique geographic position—serving as the physical bridge connecting continental South America with the Caribbean archipelago—places the country at a strategic yet vulnerable crossroads for illicit trafficking:

• Contraband Corridors: Prime Minister Phillips pointed out that expansive, porous land boundaries, shared river basins, and vast Atlantic maritime waters create operational challenges that international cartels actively exploit.
• Human Exploitation: The Prime Minister condemned human trafficking syndicates and gunrunning rings that feed on displaced migrants and marginalized communities.

“Narcotics and illegal firearms travel through illegal channels while traffickers and smugglers profit from people already placed in desperate circumstances,” Prime Minister Phillips stated.

Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond echoed those security imperatives, emphasizing the multi-billion-dollar modernization investments channeled into Guyana’s domestic defense and surveillance systems. She argued that traditional reactive policing is obsolete in an era dominated by asymmetric, digitally enabled criminal enterprises.

“Security can no longer be understood as responding to crime after it occurs; it requires us to protect our people, our borders, our institutions,” Minister Walrond affirmed.

Fraud Alerts Jump 40%: Cryptocurrency and Asset Recovery High on Agenda

A central pillar of the Georgetown deliberations centers on combating sophisticated economic crimes, following findings published in INTERPOL’s Second Global Financial Fraud Assessment Report:

• Spike in Global Fraud: The assessment revealed that between 2024 and 2025, fraud-related international notices and red alerts issued across the Americas and the Caribbean escalated by 40 percent, driven by cyber-enabled scams, illicit call centers, and fraudulent investment schemes.
• Cryptocurrency Misuse: Delegates are examining operational methodologies to trace, freeze, and seize cryptocurrency wallets exploited by organized crime cartels to launder extortion proceeds and finance narcotics consignments.
• Asset Forfeiture Pipelines: Discussions are focusing on practical mechanics for mutual legal assistance, tracking illicit cross-border wire transfers, and accelerating the repatriation of confiscated criminal assets back to victim jurisdictions.

Addressing the assembly, INTERPOL President Lucas Philippe urged security chiefs to cut through bureaucratic complexities and maximize the operational efficiency of existing shared systems:

“Ultimately, we all want the same thing: to help officers prevent crime, investigate it and bring criminals to justice. Our structures should make that work easier rather than add complexity. That means clear channels, standard procedures, tools that work together and making the best possible use of what already exists. That is why having all the key stakeholders around the table today matters.”

Deploying the Operational Task Force (OTF) Model

To move beyond policy rhetoric and achieve concrete takedowns, the conference highlighted the rollout of INTERPOL’s Operational Task Force (OTF) Model:

• Targeted Multilateral Action: The OTF framework provides member countries with specialized, agile coordination cells designed to target specific high-value targets, transnational syndicates, or emerging criminal threats that overwhelm single jurisdictions.
• Closing Intelligence Gaps: By facilitating real-time biometric and forensic data sharing, direct access to INTERPOL’s global databases (including the I-24/7 network), and joint operational commands, the model eliminates blind spots between regional police forces.

The 27th INTERPOL Americas Regional Conference continues its closed-door working sessions in Georgetown, with delegates slated to conclude proceedings with joint operational recommendations for hemispheric policing cooperation.

Source: HGP Nightly News / HGPTV

The 2026 Amerindian Heritage Games officially got underway on Thursday evening at the Everest Sports Ground, Georgetown, bringing together athletes from across Guyana’s ten regions for four days of sports competition, while making way for talent development.

The ceremony, held under the theme “Observing Our Cultural Heritage During Our Diamond Jubilee,” featured a march past by the participating teams, cultural performances, and a parachuting display by the Guyana Defence Force.

Prime Minister, performing the duties of president, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips officially declared the Games open.

He highlighted the importance of such an event in advancing the government’s One Guyana development approach and expanding opportunities for young people across the country.

“No longer must development be centred only on the coastline. Development must reach the communities in the hinterland,” the prime minister said.

He noted that the government has invested in sports infrastructure, equipment, trainers and coaches across hinterland communities, which has helped to strengthen sporting opportunities for young people.

The prime minister noted that the participation of hundreds of indigenous athletes is a demonstration of the government’s efforts to bridge the development divide.

“You have a government that is connected to the people. A government that will continue to support the development of sports in all your communities, in every region, every part of Guyana,” he said.

Also attending the opening ceremony was Minister of Amerindian Affairs Sarah Brown-Shadeek who also welcomed the athletes and highlighted the importance of sports in creating opportunities for young people from hinterland communities.

She said sports can serve as a stepping stone to wider opportunities, noting that several athletes who participated in previous editions of the games have gone on to represent Guyana at different levels.

Minister Brown-Shadeek said the 2026 Games will feature football, cricket, volleyball, archery and novelty events, while also welcoming the participation of new teams and defending champions.

Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. added that the Heritage Games represent more than a sports competition, describing them as a platform to recognise the talent that exists throughout Guyana.

“The games started as an idea, an idea that represents a belief in talent that exists in every single one of us as Guyanese people,” Minister Ramson said.

He pointed to continued investment in community grounds, noting that more than $1 billion has been invested in hinterland community grounds over the past five years.

Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Steven Jacobs, during his brief remarks noted that the games also provide athletes with opportunities to be identified by national sporting associations.

“This is not only about competition, it’s about opportunities,” Minister Jacobs said, noting that representatives from football, cricket, volleyball and archery will be present to scout emerging talent.

The first night of competition continued with football, with Mahdia facing Paramakatoi, as the participating teams began their quest for honours in this year’s Games.

The 2026 Amerindian Heritage Games continue through Sunday, providing a platform for just over 700 male and female Indigenous athletes to compete, showcase their abilities and celebrate their heritage through sport and culture.

Source: Village Voice News

President Irfaan Ali and Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez used the United Nations General Assembly this week to advance sharply different approaches to settling the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, with Rodríguez calling for a return to bilateral negotiations and Ali insisting that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) process should be respected.

Rodríguez made Venezuela’s position first, addressing the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, in New York. She reaffirmed Caracas’ claim to the Essequibo region and appealed to Guyana to return to negotiations under the 1966 Geneva Agreement.

“Here, I appeal to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to resolve the issue and to return to negotiations, as stipulated by the Geneva Agreement.”

Rodríguez argued that direct negotiations offered a more durable basis for settlement than decisions imposed by external institutions.

“Agreements which last the longest are those that emerge from bilateral negotiations. They last longer and function better than those imposed by external bodies.”

Her intervention came as the ICJ prepares to rule on Guyana’s case concerning the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which Guyana maintains established the final international boundary between the two countries.

Less than 24 hours later, Ali addressed the General Assembly on Thursday, September 24, presenting Guyana’s position that the controversy has already entered the judicial phase after decades of efforts to resolve it through bilateral and United Nations-supported mechanisms.

Ali urged Venezuela to accept the forthcoming ICJ ruling, saying Guyana would do the same.

“Now that we have both participated in the hearings which were completed in May 2026, we urge Venezuela to abide by the forthcoming ruling in accordance with their obligation under the UN Charter, as Guyana will do.”

Ali stressed that Guyana’s resort to the World Court was not its first choice.

“Recourse to the ICJ came after decades of efforts to resolve the controversy bilaterally, including through a mixed commission and the Good Offices of the UN Secretary General.”

He also reiterated Guyana’s position that the 1899 Arbitral Award itself described the settlement of the land boundary as “full, perfect, and final.”

The contrasting presentations highlight the fundamental divide between Georgetown and Caracas.

Guyana’s position is that previous efforts to settle the controversy failed, the matter was referred to the ICJ under the framework of the Geneva Agreement, and both countries have participated in the court proceedings. The substantive hearings concluded in May 2026, leaving the parties awaiting the court’s judgment.

Venezuela’s position is that the Geneva Agreement remains the basis for a negotiated settlement and that the controversy should be resolved through direct talks rather than an external judicial determination.

The ICJ has already ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear Guyana’s case, which was filed after the UN Secretary-General referred the controversy to the court under the Geneva Agreement.

Ali nevertheless used his UN address to look beyond the legal proceedings, saying Guyana wants a new relationship with its neighbour once the controversy is settled.

“We look forward to a new era of neighbourly relations in the interest of our peoples, the development of our countries and the stability and prosperity of our region.”

The two UN addresses therefore underscored rather than narrowed the diplomatic divide: Rodríguez called Guyana back to the negotiating table on September 23, while Ali, speaking on September 24, called for Venezuela to respect the forthcoming judgment of the World Court.

Source: Village Voice News

President Irfaan Ali told the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that Guyana turned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) only after decades of bilateral efforts to resolve the border dispute with Venezuela. He urged Venezuela to abide by the court’s forthcoming ruling, as Guyana will do.

The president was speaking at the general debate of the Assembly’s 81st Session in New York.

The debate is the annual gathering where leaders of the UN’s 193 member states set out their positions to the world.

His address came less than a day after Venezuela’s acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, used the same podium to urge Guyana to return to negotiations under the Geneva Agreement.

It was also his first address to the Assembly since the ICJ completed hearings in the case in May 2026. That placed Guyana’s commitment to the rule of law on record before the full membership of the United Nations, with a ruling still pending.

“Recourse to the ICJ came after decades of efforts to resolve the controversy bilaterally, including through a mixed commission and the good offices of the UN Secretary-General,” President Ali said.

He noted that the 1899 Arbitral Award was “the full, perfect, and final settlement” of the border.

Despite this, he said, Guyana had “endured long and repeated provocations and aggression.”

“Guyana has always advanced the peaceful settlement of the controversy in relation to our border with Venezuela,” the president said.

He recalled that the Secretary-General referred the matter to the court under the Geneva Agreement.

The court has since twice pronounced on its jurisdiction to hear the case. President Ali said Guyana took part in the proceedings in full respect for international law and encouraged Venezuela to do the same.

“Now that we have both participated in the hearings, which were completed in May 2026, we urge Venezuela to abide by the forthcoming ruling in accordance with their obligation under the UN Charter, as Guyana will do,” he said.

He said Guyana hopes the ruling will open a new chapter between the two neighbours.

“We look forward to a new era of neighbourly relations in the interests of our peoples, the development of our countries, and the stability and prosperity of our region,” he said.

The case, filed by Guyana in 2018, seeks the Court’s confirmation that the 1899 Award and the boundary it established between then-British Guiana and Venezuela are valid and binding under international law.

The ICJ has twice affirmed its jurisdiction, ruling in 2020 that it had authority over the case and dismissing a further Venezuelan objection in 2023. The Court has also twice granted Guyana’s requests for provisional measures, most recently ordering Venezuela in 2025 not to proceed with elections in the disputed Essequibo region.

This year, world leaders have gathered under the theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.” (DPI)

Source: Village Voice News

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali used Guyana’s address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to push for a Security Council that gives Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean permanent representation.

He argued that a body designed at the end of the Second World War can no longer claim to speak for the world as it is presently.

“We need a Security Council that reflects the geopolitical realities of the 21st century, not the power structures of 1945,” the Guyanese leader told the 81^st UNGA Session in New York on Wednesday.

The call carries added weight coming from Guyana, which completed a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Council in 2025, giving it first-hand experience of how the body works.

President Ali framed reform as the answer to a deeper problem that he identified as the declining confidence in multilateralism itself.

He listed weakening of cooperation between nations among the most troubling challenges of the age, alongside war, climate change and rising inequality. He argued that the UN’s credibility now depends on its willingness to change.

“The United Nations must not be a monument to the past. It must become an instrument for the future,” he declared.

In his message, the president also called for the UN to become more transparent, accountable and responsive.

He also wants a stronger General Assembly with greater weight given to its deliberative and representative authority, since that is the one body where every member state has an equal voice. He pointed to a system too often divided by institutional rivalries and competing mandates.

He also pointed to resources that fall short of the responsibilities member states have handed the organisation.

“This is not the hour to retreat from multilateralism. This is the hour to reclaim and to renew it,” he called on world leaders.

President Ali tied the reform agenda directly to this year’s race for UN Secretary-General. He argued that institutions do not reform themselves and need leadership capable of change.

Guyana has put forward Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett for the post, and CARICOM nations have endorsed her candidacy.

The UNGA is the annual gathering where leaders of the UN’s 193 member states set out their positions to the world. This year, world leaders have gathered under the theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”

DPI

Source: Village Voice News

By GHK Lall- Is American Ambassador to Guyana, Excellency Nicole D. Theriot, still touting the PPP Govt as democracy as its finest?  Is Secretary of State, Mr. Marco Rubio, still hailing the special relationship between the U.S. government and Guyana’s PPP Govt?  Is CEO Darren Woods and Country Head, Alistair Routledge, Exxon’s cardinals, still selling the PPP Govt as the best partners that anyone can want?

They should read the media reports of the Guyana’s Snr Supt, Prem Narine, and his expressive, explosive, testimony about six execution-style murders.  Allegedly by a close friend of the same PPP Govt that went nowhere.  Nowhere despite the evidence.  Nowhere, most likely because of the millions donated.  Never for that evidence that pointed to one PPP insider to see the light of day until now when the PPP Govt and its friend have a parting of the ways.

Truth be told, the U.S. Ambassador doesn’t need the Guyana media to publish what its own intelligence network already confirmed.  Further, U.S. ambassadors are the best expert witnesses on how Guyana Governments own and control, dominate and decide for, the Guyana Police Force, on major developments of this nature.  This is not a 2026 development, but one that goes back at least six decades.

Now with the senior superintendent overnight confessions about the way that things went down (concealed and condemned to close confinement) with those six murders, will Ambassador Theriot still be waxing brightly about democracy in relation to the PPP Govt?  Will Excellency Rubio still be selling his special relationship with those who coddle an alleged serial murderer, Guyana’s equivalent of America’s Green River killer?

Will CEO Woods and Exxon Guyana Country Chief, Mr. Alistair Routledge, still be making a huge production of the Exxon-PPP Govt partnership?  Will they, when the PPP Govt covers over Guyana’s alleged equivalent of Charles Whitman, the Texas University Tower mass murderer from back in 1966?  I would hope not.  I trust that easy access to Guyana’s oil doesn’t mean so much that partners in heinous crimes are given a free pass.  Without a word said.  Without a visa restricted.  Without some sanctions applied, if only to save face.

Wakeup call and reality check for Guyanese.  Don’t hold breath.  If the U.S. could have dealt with Chile’s Pinochet (a 10,000-man mass murderer), then Guyana’s PPP Govt and its itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny half dozen murders isn’t anything to get carried away over, or cry about.  Collateral damage.  Just like how arms of the U.S. Government used Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega to flood Black American communities in California with mind altering substances and send those already poor, depressed communities back into the Stone Age.  With those backgrounds, why should the murders of six meaningless nonwhite Guyanese matter that much to America?  Why should Americans care?

If the PPP Govt wasn’t such a groveling flunky (sanctity of contract) to Exxon and wider American interests, then maybe the six murders could have been a tipping point.  A point of damnation and no return for the PPP.  But not when it is how it is.  The PPP Govt sold itself.  The American Govt bought into the bargain.  Now the Americans have to swallow hard, and position these murder exposures as a domestic matter.

Like hell it is!  The man that the U.S. wants is the alleged mass murderer.  The U.S. wants him as a gold smuggler, a tax evader, and a money launderer, as charged.  So, don’t tell Guyanese that the same quarry, now an alleged murderer isn’t of interest.  Nor those who covered over his crimes a nonissue. What does not rise to the level of urgent concern.

Inarguably, the PPP Govt had much involvement in the suppression of murder evidence.  The police environment is built that way, under PPP Govt instructions.  U.S. Government agents know this.  They should avoid being a party to crimes, covering up crimes.

Source: Village Voice News