LatinNews Daily - 19 May 2025

*Guyana’s national assembly has approved a new bill which holds parties liable for damages caused by oil spills. Entitled the ‘Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill 2025’ the legislation sets out a “comprehensive national legal framework for oil spill prevention, preparedness, response, and compensation” as well as designating “the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) as the national authority responsible for coordinating response efforts and mitigating the impact of any spill”, according to a statement by Guyana’s department of public information (DPI). The same statement notes that a formalised national oil spill committee within the CDC will oversee the development of an incident command system. The approval of the legislation comes as the country is ramping up its oil industry following the discovery of offshore oil in 2015. This is also driving tensions with Venezuela which has threatened to annex the oil-rich Essequibo region, over which it claims sovereignty, but which lies within Guyana’s internationally recognised borders. On 25 May Venezuela is planning to stage elections for the governor of the disputed Essequibo in the context of regional and congressional elections. In the latest sign of these tensions, on 15 May Guyana Defence Force (GDF) reported that within the previous 48 hours, armed men in civilian clothing on the Venezuela shore had carried out three separate attacks on GDF troops conducting riverine patrols of the Cuyuni River. According to the GDF, the attacks took place between the village of Eteringbang and the Makapa hills (in Guyana’s western Cuyuni-Mazaruni region). On 15 May Guyana’s chief of staff of the Guyanese armed forces, Brigadier Omar Khan, said that the GDF had enhanced its presence along the Cuyuni River with “ongoing patrols and measures to ensure the nation’s border is secure”.

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