Updated March 10April 17, 2020
Guyana: An Overview
Located on the north coast of South America, Englishspeaking Guyana has characteristics common of a
of a Caribbean nation
because of its British colonial heritage—
(the country
achieved independence from Britain in 1966.
Guyana ). Guyana
participates in Caribbean regional organizations
and and
forums, and its capital of Georgetown serves as
headquarters for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a
regional integration organization.
Current congressional interest in Guyana is focused on the
Guyana currently is facing two enormous challenges—a
political crisis concerning the conduct of the March 2, 2020, elections. Some Members of
Congress have expressed deep concern about allegations of
potential electoral fraud and have called on the Guyana
Elections Commission (GECOM) to not declare a winner
until the completion of a credible vote tabulation process.
Figure 1. Map of Guyana
system from independence until the early 1990s; the party
traditionally has had an Afro-Guyanese base of support. In
contrast, the AFC identifies as a multiracial party.
The opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C),
led by former President Bharrat Jagdeo (1999-2011), has 32
seats in the National Assembly. Traditionally supported by
Indo-Guyanese, the PPP/C governed Guyana from 1992
until its defeat in the 2015 elections.
Guyana at a Glance
Population: 782,000 (2018, IMF est.)
Ethnic groups
2020, elections, and a public health threat due to the
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
President David Granger leads a coalition that narrowly
won in 2015, with 33 of 65 seats in the unicameral National
Assembly. The coalition consists of Granger’s A
Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for
Change (AFC), led by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
The largest party in the APNU is the People’s National
Congress Reform (PNCR), which dominated the political
system from independence until the early 1990s; the party
traditionally has had an Afro-Guyanese base of support. In
contrast, the AFC identifies as a multiracial party.
Figure 1. Map of Guyana
U.S. officials and some Members of Congress have
expressed deep concern about credible allegations of
electoral fraud. On April 15, 2020, an Organization of
American States (OAS) election observation mission
maintained that the political crisis is not intractable and
urged the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to
ensure that procedures for a planned recount are
transparent and consistent.
With regard to COVID-19, as of April 16, 2020, Guyana
reported 6 deaths and 48 confirmed cases, although
testing to date has been limited. The broad economic
impact of COVID-19 on Guyana likely will not be as
severe as in other Caribbean countries because of
Guyana’s recently begun offshore oil production.
Guyana at a Glance
Population: 782,000 (2018, IMF est.)
Ethnic Groups: Indo-Guyanese, or those of East Indian
heritage, almost 40%; Afro-Guyanese, almost 30%; mixed,
20%; Amerindian, almost 11% (2012, CIA est.)
Area: 83,000 square miles, about the size of Idaho
GDP: $3.94.1 billion (2019, current prices, 2018, IMF est.)
Real GDP Growth: 4.1% (20187% (2019 est.); 4.4% (2019 est.) (IMF)
Per Capita GDP: $4,984 (2018, IMF est.)
Life Expectancy: 69.6 years (2017, WB)
Sources: International Monetary Fund (IMF); Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA); World Bank (WB)53% (2020 est.)
(constant prices, IMF)
Per Capita GDP: $5,252 (2019, current prices, IMF est.)
Source: CRS.
The opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C),
led by former President Bharrat Jagdeo (1999-2011), has 32
seats in the National Assembly. Traditionally supported by
Indo-Guyanese, the PPP/C governed Guyana from 1992
until its defeat in the 2015 elections.
Sources: International Monetary Fund (IMF), World
Economic Outlook Database, Oct. 2019 and April 2020;
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), World Factbook; World
Bank (WB), World Development Indicators.
March 2020 Elections
Originally due by September 2020, Guyana held early
national elections on March 2, 2020, because the ruling
APNU/AFC coalition lost a no-confidence motion in
December 2018 by a single vote. A legal challenge to the
no-confidence votemotion ensued and ultimately made its way to
the Caribbean Court of
Justice, which ruled in June 2019
that the vote was valid.
Source: CRS.
Political Environment
Guyana has a hybrid republican/parliamentary form of
government. The presidential candidate of the party or
coalition receiving the most votes becomes president; the
president in turn appoints the prime minister.
President David Granger leads a coalition that narrowly
won in 2015, with 33 of 65 seats in the unicameral National
Assembly. The coalition consists of Granger’s A
Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for
Change (AFC), led by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
The largest party in the APNU is the People’s National
Congress Reform (PNCR), which dominated the political, and
the president appoints the prime minister.
In the March 2, 2020, election, President Granger (running
for reelection) was the presidential candidate of the
APNU/AFC coalition, with AFC Member of Parliament
and Minister of Security Khemraj Ramjattan the candidate
for prime minister. Granger was diagnosed with nonHodgkin’s lymphoma in November 2018 and received
treatment in Cuba; in October 2019, Guyanese officials
announced that Granger was in remission. The PPP/C
selected Irfan Ali as its
Life Expectancy: 69.8 years (2018, WB)
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Guyana: An Overview
for prime minister. The PPP/C selected Irfan Ali as its
presidential candidate. Ali currently
serves as shadow
finance minister and previously served as
housing minister. Recent elections suggested that the 2020
race would be close.
Final elections result have not been housing minister.
Final election results were not released because of
alleged alleged
discrepancies and allegations of fraud in one1 of the
country’s
10 administrative regions, Region 4. On March 6,
several several
international election observer missions—from the
OAS,
the Carter Center, the Organization of American States, the
European Union (EU), and the Commonwealth—issued a
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Guyana: An Overview
joint statement maintaining
Commonwealth—maintained that the tabulation of results for
for Region 4 was interrupted and remains incomplete and
calling for incomplete, and called for
election officials to resume the transparent
tabulation of votes. A legal challenge by the opposition led
to a court injunction stopping the GECOM’s release of
election results until the court determines whether election
officials will need to resume verification of the votes in
Region 4. Political tensions have increased in Guyana; one
protestor was killed and several others injured on March 7
votes. Legal challenges delayed a recount, but in early April
2020, GECOM confirmed its decision to go ahead with a
full national recount. GECOM’s chairperson has indicated
that a timeframe for the recount will be announced on April
17; a previous proposal by the country’s chief electoral
officer to take 156 days for the recount was met by strong
criticism by the PPP/C and the OAS electoral observation
mission.
Oil Changes Guyana’s Economic Outlook
Guyana’s economy traditionally has been based on
agriculture (rice and sugar) and mining (gold and bauxite),
but it is being bolstered by the discovery of significant
amounts of offshore oil is
bolstering the country’s economy. ExxonMobil leads a consortium
consortium that includes Hess and China National Offshore Oil
Oil Corporation and has been involved in oil and gas
exploration in Guyana since 2008. Since 2015, the
consortium has identified 16 commercially viable
discoveries in the Stabroek Block, about 120 miles
offshore. Production began in December 2019 and is
expected to reach 120,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d) within
several months and more than 750,000 b/d by 2025.
Recoverable oil is estimated at more than 6 billion barrels.
The discovery of offshore oil vastly changes the economic
development prospects of Guyana, which used to be one of
the hemisphere’s poorest countries. Economic growth
averaged almost 3.2% from 2015 to 2018 and is forecast to
be 4.4% this year, according to the International Monetary
Fund (IMF). With the beginning of oil production,
however, the IMF is forecasting almost 86% growth in
2020, with GDP almost doubling to $8.1 billion and per
capita income growing to over $10,000.
Guyana’s development of its oil resources has raised
concerns about corruption and the tendency of some oil-rich
countries to favor oil sector development over other
economic sectors. In early 2019, Guyana’s National
Assembly approved legislation providing a framework for
the establishment of a Natural Resource Fund for managing
Guyana’s oil wealth. The IMF welcomed the action but
called for Guyana to take additional actions, including
establishing a fiscal responsibility framework to avoid
fiscal deficits; promoting effective, transparent management
of the oil wealth; and The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that economic growth in
2019 reached 4.7%. For 2020, despite the recent decline in
world oil prices and the economic consequences of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF is forecasting 53%
economic growth and a comparable per capita income
increase. Guyana’s development of its oil resources has
raised concerns about corruption. In early 2019, Guyana’s
National Assembly approved legislation providing a
framework for the establishment of a Natural Resource
Fund for managing the country’s oil wealth. The IMF
welcomed the action but called for Guyana to take
additional steps, including establishing a fiscal
responsibility framework to avoid fiscal deficits; promoting
effective, transparent management of the oil wealth; and
strengthening anti-corruption efforts.
U.S.-Guyana Relations
In the aftermath of the March 2, 2020, elections, U.S.
Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch joined the heads of mission
from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the EU to issue a
joint statement on March 6 expressing “deep concern over
credible allegations of electoral fraud.” The ambassadors
called on President Granger to avoid a transition of
government, “which we believe would be unconstitutional
as it would be based on a vote tabulation process that
lacked credibility and transparency.”
U.S. relations with Guyana have improved since the early
1990s, when the government moved away from its socialist
orientation and one-party domination of the political system
and embraced a market economy and free and fair
democratic elections. According to the State Department,
U.S. policy toward Guyana centers on democracy
promotion and civil society development, economic growth,
and the promotion of security and stability.
Bilateral Bilateral
relations are characterized by close security
cooperation cooperation
through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative
(CBSI) and
expanding trade and investment in the energy
sector. As noted above, ExxonMobil and Hess are currently
involved in the development of Guyana’s offshore oil
reserves. Reflecting growing U.S. commercial interest in
Guyana, an American Chamber of Commerce in Guyana
was launched in August 2018 sector.
Trade. The United States ran a trade surplus of $540
million with Guyana in 20182019, with U.S. exports valued at
$672 million, up 24% from 20172018 (led by machinery and
iron/steel pipes for oil drilling) and U.S. imports valued at
almost $140$132 million (led by seafood, aluminum ores, and
gold). In
1988, Guyana became a beneficiary of the
Caribbean Basin
Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), a
preferential trade
program for Caribbean imports. In 2000,
it became a
beneficiary of the Caribbean Basin Trade
Partnership Act
(CBTPA), a program that provides
enhanced tariff
treatment for certain imports from the
region, including
goods made with U.S. yarns, fabrics, and
threads. CBERA
has no set expiration date; CBTPA expires
in September
2020. Legislation has been introduced in both
houses (H.R.
991 and S. 2473) to extend the CBTPA until
to September 2030.
U.S. Foreign Aid. U.S. foreign assistance to Guyana
includes a small bilateral aid program to improve the
capacity of Guyana’s security forces to police its border and
provide security, as well as larger spigots of assistance
through global and regional programs. According to the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S
aid to Guyana amounted to $4.7 million in FY2018 (latest
full year available), with top sectors including HIV/AIDS,
and basic education, and basic health. Guyana has received
assistance to combat HIV/AIDS since 2004 under the
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The Peace
Corps has a program in Guyana currently staffed with over
60 volunteers Although
Peace Corps programs worldwide are now suspended
because of COVID-19, Guyana had over 60 volunteers
working on education, health, and
environmental projects.
Guyana also receives U.S. assistance through the CBSI, a
program begun in 2009 to help combat the drug trade and
other transnational crime and improve citizen security.
Support for Guyana under the CBSI has included the
provision of patrol
boats to increase the defense force’s
maritime operations
capability; a community-based
program to reduce crime
and violence and increase
opportunities for youth; support
for effective criminal
investigations; and workforce development and educational
job and
educational support for at-risk youth.
According to USAID, the United States also provided
almost $3.6 million in humanitarian assistance from
FY2017 to FY2019 through international organizations for
some 22,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Guyana.
Mark P. Sullivan, Specialist in Latin American Affairs
https://crsreports.congress.gov
IF11381
Guyana: An Overview
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11381 · VERSION 45 · UPDATED