U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has introduced new legislation aimed at strengthening U.S. security cooperation with Guyana in response to mounting threats from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
A member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Bennet said the bill would compel the Department of Defense to assess the current state of military collaboration with Guyana and identify ways to improve it. “As Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro continues to threaten Guyana, the United States must work with Guyana to deter such aggression,” he said in a statement on Monday.
The legislation calls for a formal report to Congress outlining U.S.-Guyana defense cooperation and evaluating whether additional assistance is needed to help Guyana deter potential attacks.
Maduro’s government has escalated its claims over Guyana’s Essequibo region—territory internationally recognized as part of Guyana—by conducting military overflights, threatening oil facilities in Guyanese waters, and most recently, holding controversial regional elections in the disputed territory, including installing a governor and legislators. These actions, deemed hostile and unlawful by Washington, have led both the Biden and Trump administrations to ramp up diplomatic and security support for Guyana.
Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who also sits on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, co-sponsored the bill.
Guyana, an emerging oil producer with strategic importance to both regional stability and global energy markets, has become an increasingly valuable U.S. ally. Its crude exports are helping European nations reduce dependence on Russian oil in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The new bill follows several bipartisan initiatives led by Bennet, including the VALOR Act—introduced with Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho)—to support democratic reform in Venezuela after Maduro claimed victory in widely criticized 2024 elections. Bennet also co-leads the Americas Act with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a sweeping economic strategy to counter China’s influence in the region.
In February, Bennet and a bipartisan group of senators also introduced the HELP Act to extend U.S. trade benefits for Haiti’s apparel industry through 2035.
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