VZCZCXRO9318
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHGE #0795/01 2361344
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241344Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5693
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0549
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL 0079

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000795 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
CARACAS ALSO FOR DAO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR MCAP PGOV PINS PREL GY
SUBJECT: JAGDEO PROMOTES LT. COLONELS TO DEFENSE GENERAL 
STAFF 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that 
Coast Guard Captain Gary Best, one of four officers promoted 
to O-6 rank last week, will be appointed the next Chief of 
Staff of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF).  The other three new 
colonels will take senior positions in the GDF General Staff. 
 Jagdeo's decision to side-step more senior colonels caused 
some grumblings within the GDF and received mixed reviews in 
the media. Guyana's main opposition party responded by 
offering to lend support to Guyanese wishing to topple the 
government. All four of the newly promoted officers have 
received extensive U.S. military training and their promotion 
to senior leadership positions should help strengthen the 
already cordial U.S./GDF relationship. END SUMMARY. 
 
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THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) Ending months of speculation, Jagdeo announced that 
newly promoted Captain Gary Best will be elevated to 
Commodore and appointed the next Chief of Staff of the Guyana 
Defense Force upon the formal retirement of Brigadier Edward 
Collins on September 26.  Captain Best is one of four O-5 
grade officers promoted to O-6 last week; also promoted by 
Jagdeo were Colonel Andrew Pompey, Colonel Bruce Lovell, and 
Colonel Mark Philips.  Colonel Pompey will be the new Deputy 
Chief of Staff, Lovell will be the Colonel, General Staff, 
and Philips will be remain in charge of administration and 
quartering. 
 
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GDF UNHAPPY? MAYBE NOT 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Some senior GDF officers have complained to the press 
and others that Jagdeo's move violated what they claim is a 
long-standing tradition that the Chief of Staff be appointed 
strictly based on seniority.  These officers forget that two 
of the seven Chiefs of Staff since independence, both 
appointed by PNC presidents, came from outside of the GDF 
entirely.  Forbes Burnham elevated a Deputy Commissioner of 
Police to be GDF Chief of Staff and a few years later 
President Desmond Hoyte made the Director General of the now 
defunct Guyana National Service Joseph Singh Chief of Staff 
of the GDF.  The four new O-6 officers are all solid officers 
and are well respected within the GDF. 
 
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MIXED REVIEWS IN THE MEDIA 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The newspapers were filled with letters to the editor 
questioning the motives behind the move -- many saw it as 
Jagdeo selecting and promoting only those officers who are 
loyal to him and the People's Progressive Party (PPP). 
Interestingly, the independent Stabroek News, an unrelenting 
critic of President Jagdeo, published an editorial strongly 
supporting Jagdeo's move, noting that the President's 
selection was entirely within the law and supported by 
precedent.  The paper praised Jagdeo for selecting the 
officer he found to be the most qualified person rather than 
the longest serving. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
OPPOSITION OFFERS TO HELP TOPPLE GOVERNMENT? 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) Amid the shake-up in the GDF top brass, the main 
opposition party, the People's National Congress Reform 
(PNCR), offerd to lend support to any Guyanese who seek to 
topple President Jagdeo's administration.  PNCR leader Rober 
Corbin, speaking at a rally against the shake-up, said "I 
want to sound a warning to that gentleman... He is touching 
the wrong people... and now they are tinkering with the Army, 
and I want to say to you, long time gone, short time left." 
PNCR Chairman, Winston Murray, told the rally that the party 
was willing to offer leadership to those Guyanese who might 
want to "come out to the streets and demonstrate to the 
government that they want them out."  This "mass rally" 
attracted only 300 participants, 200 of whom were delegates 
to the conference of the Guyana Youth Socialist Movement. 
Only one newspaper covered the potentially seditious remarks. 
 Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Roger Luncheon, 
dismissed the threat noting that its seriousness was 
proportional to the size of the rally. 
 
 
GEORGETOWN 00000795  002 OF 002 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶6. (SBU)  President Jagdeo's selection of a new GDF General 
Staff appears to be a positive step forward for U.S./GDF 
relations. All four of the new top officers have received 
significant training in the U.S. and are familiar with U.S. 
joint operational methodologies.  Colonels Pompey, Lovell, 
and Philips have all completed the U.S. Army Command and 
General Staff College, the premier training environment for 
operational level leaders and staff officers. (Note: Best 
declined an offer to attend the Command and General Staff 
College as it came while he was completing a law degree.) We 
will now work with officers who share a similar training 
background and, hopefully, a similar outlook on the U.S./GDF 
relationship. 
THOMAS