GUYANA · DEFENCE
Key Facts
- —The country Guyana is an English-speaking South American country on the Atlantic coast, bordered by Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname, and an ExxonMobil-led group pumps oil offshore.
- —Why it matters Guyana’s army is deepening ties with the Brazilian Army on its southern border, a frontier that US energy investors in Guyana’s oil boom will watch.
- —Why now Guyana’s Chief of Defence Staff met a senior Brazilian Army delegation at Base Camp Ayanganna this week, and Guyana’s outlets carried the Guyana Defence Force account on 23 October.
- —What happened Both sides discussed wider training, information sharing and capacity building, including officer courses and mountain warfare.
- —The numbers Four named Brazilian officers took part, and Brazil’s ambassador puts Guyana-Brazil trade at about US$800 million in the first eight months of 2026, up 25% on a year earlier.
- —What it means for you US readers watching Guyana’s oil boom should note that the talks cover training and information exchange on the Brazil border, and no troop deployment or US role was announced.
- —Still open Whether the talks become a signed agreement with dates, courses and budgets.
Guyana-Brazil military cooperation could widen after talks on training, information sharing and capacity building at the Guyana Defence Force’s Base Camp Ayanganna this week. The meeting matters to US readers because Guyana is where an ExxonMobil-led group reached 900,000 barrels of oil a day in November 2025, and the Guyana Defence Force says the cooperation supports its efforts to safeguard Guyana’s territorial integrity.
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the country’s armed forces, says its Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan, hosted a senior Brazilian Army delegation. The visitors were led by General Luiz Gonzaga Viana Filho, who commands the Army’s Amazon Military Command in Manaus, according to Brazilian outlets.
We have covered the neighbourhood in our guide Guyana and Its Neighbours in the Guianas, which covers the Brazil frontier among its three land borders. This report adds the military side, which Guyana’s own outlets published on Friday 23 October 2026.
Who Met at Base Camp Ayanganna
The Brazilian delegation included Brigadier General Roberto Pereira Angrizani, who commands the 1st Jungle Infantry Brigade, and Brigadier General Klauber Rogerio Candian, deputy commander of Operation Catrimani. Colonel Bastos Costa, an assistant to the Amazon commander, completed the group, and the Brazilians also received a security briefing from the GDF.
Brigadier Khan was joined by senior GDF officers, among them the Task Force Commander, Captain (CG) Vernon Burnett, and the Guyana National Reserve Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Drumson Mc Caulay. The visit began at the Takutu River Bridge, where the commanding officer of the GDF’s 3 Infantry Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Jaime Castello, received the guests.
The bridge links Lethem in Guyana with Bonfim in Brazil’s Roraima State, and it has connected the two countries since its completion in 2009. Roraima, whose capital Boa Vista hosted the 29th exchange, is the Brazilian state on that frontier.
What Guyana-Brazil Military Cooperation Would Cover
The GDF said the discussions focused on shared defence and security concerns, information exchange, military capabilities and ways to strengthen cooperation between the two forces. Brigadier Khan called the talks productive and stressed the value of continued engagement on common challenges.
He noted that instability elsewhere in the hemisphere could have wider regional implications, which makes dialogue between Guyana and Brazil important for strategic planning. The coverage does not say which country or crisis he had in mind.
Brigadier Khan also acknowledged Brazil’s long contribution to GDF training and professional development since Guyana’s independence. Both sides considered moving beyond infantry and jungle-warfare courses to include officer development and specialised courses.
General Viana Filho welcomed closer engagement and urged more information sharing and talks on capacity building. He named mountain warfare as one area for further work and invited Brigadier Khan to visit the Amazon Military Command headquarters.
A Border With a Record of Joint Patrols
The talks build on routine contact, including the 29th Regional Military Exchange in Boa Vista, Brazil, an annual forum that the GDF reported in early October 2026. Captain Burnett and General Angrizani co-chaired it.
That meeting, according to the GDF, covered illicit trafficking, illegal mining and transnational criminal networks along Guyana’s southern border. The two forces also raised their flags together on the Takutu Bridge for Brazil’s Independence Day in September 2026, the GDF said.
In November 2025 the GDF and the Brazilian Army ran joint mirrored patrols in the Takutu and Ireng sectors, with a planning meeting on Thursday 13 November 2025. Each side acted on its own territory, and the GDF supported a Guyanese mining commission operation against illegal mining in the Ireng sector while Brazil ran a parallel one.
Brazil’s Amazon Mission Next Door
Operation Catrimani, in which the visiting deputy commander serves, is called Catrimani II in Brazilian official texts, and it is a joint Army, Navy and Air Force effort on the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in Roraima. Brazil’s Army says the operation, led by the defence ministry, completed two years on 1 April 2026 under a ministry order of 26 March 2024 that authorised the temporary use of the armed forces.
Brazilian outlets describe its purpose as clearing illegal gold mining from that territory, and illegal mining also appears in the GDF’s own accounts of the border. The sources do not say that the Catrimani operation was discussed at Base Camp Ayanganna.
Trade and Oil Link the Two Countries
Brazil’s ambassador to Guyana, Maria Cristina de Castro Martins, said on 20 October 2026, News Room Guyana reported, that bilateral trade topped US$1 billion in each year from 2023 to 2025. She put trade at about US$800 million for the first eight months of 2026, a rise of 25% on the same period of 2025.
She added that a large part of that trade is Guyanese crude oil sold to Brazil, which gives Guyana-Brazil military cooperation an economic backdrop, while Brazil sells Guyana industrial goods, machinery, building materials and food. The ambassador also welcomed the Linden-to-Lethem road under construction as a step toward closer physical links, and our guide Who Runs Guyana’s Economy, the Key Players in 2026 covers the oil and money side.
Guyana’s oil industry has grown quickly, and our report Guyana Output Nears One Million Barrels Per Day as Uaru Ship Lands explains the latest project. ExxonMobil’s own announcement of 12 November 2025 put daily output in the Stabroek block at 900,000 barrels, with its partners Hess Guyana Exploration and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana.
Washington, Caracas and the Wider Picture
On Wednesday 21 October 2026, President Irfaan Ali and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signed a defence partnership declaration at the Pentagon, Demerara Waves reported, and our report Guyana Defence Partnership With US Signed at Pentagon has the detail. The United States ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, told News Room Guyana on Friday 23 October 2026 that the relationship is a “50-50” partnership with “no dominance”.
Separately, the International Court of Justice held public hearings from Monday 4 to Monday 11 May 2026 in the case Guyana brought against Venezuela over the 1899 arbitral award on the border. Its website lists no judgment date as of 23 October 2026, and our report Guyana Urges Venezuela to Accept Coming World Court Ruling on Essequibo at UN Assembly follows the dispute.
What It Means for You
For US investors in Guyana’s oil sector, Guyana-Brazil military cooperation is a sign of steady working relations with a southern neighbour, and not a change in the security picture. The announcement covers training and information exchange, with no deployment, treaty or US role mentioned.
For travellers, Lethem and the Takutu crossing link the two countries, and our guide to safety in Guyana for expats covers general conditions. Our Georgetown expat guide and the overview Guyana in Latin America, Its Role, Weight and Alliances give wider background on the country.
What Is Not Known
No agreement, date, course list or budget was announced, and the GDF’s own account had not appeared on its website when we checked on 23 October 2026. Guyana Times and iNews Guyana place the meeting on Thursday 22 October, while Ignite News says Friday.
We found no Brazilian Army account of the visit, so the Brazilian names and titles come from the GDF account as carried by Guyanese outlets, apart from General Viana Filho’s command, which Brazilian outlets confirm. It is not known what Brigadier Khan meant by instability elsewhere in the hemisphere, and the sources do not link the talks to the Venezuela case at the International Court of Justice.
The trade figures come from Brazil’s ambassador and were not checked against customs data. It is also not known whether the planned mountain-warfare and officer courses will take place in Guyana, in Brazil, or in both.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Guyana and Brazil agree on this week?
They did not sign an agreement, according to the accounts found. They discussed wider training, information sharing and capacity building, including officer development and mountain warfare.
Who led the Brazilian delegation?
General Luiz Gonzaga Viana Filho, commander of the Brazilian Army’s Amazon Military Command, led it. He was joined by Brigadier General Roberto Pereira Angrizani, Brigadier General Klauber Rogerio Candian and Colonel Bastos Costa.
Where do Guyana and Brazil share a border crossing?
The Takutu River Bridge links Lethem in Guyana with Bonfim in Roraima State, Brazil. It was completed in 2009, and the delegation was received there at the start of the visit.
Is the US involved in the Guyana-Brazil talks?
No US role was mentioned in the accounts of the meeting. Separately, Guyana and the US signed a defence declaration on 21 October, and the US ambassador called the relationship a partnership with no dominance on 23 October.
Why does it matter to US readers?
An ExxonMobil-led group produces oil offshore Guyana, and the GDF says the cooperation supports its efforts to safeguard Guyana’s territorial integrity. The talks cover training and information exchange, not deployments.
Sources: iNews Guyana, 23 October 2026; Guyana Times, 23 October 2026; Ignite News, 23 October 2026; Guyana Defence Force news releases (29th Regional Military Exchange, 5 October 2026; joint patrols, 21 November 2025); News Room Guyana, 20 October 2026; Demerara Waves, 21 October 2026; News Room Guyana, 23 October 2026; International Court of Justice, Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 case; ExxonMobil Guyana, 12 November 2025; Brazilian Army blog on Operation Catrimani II.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief