President Bharrat Jagdeo’s move to sidestep senior officers in favour of Commodore Gary Best to head the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) back in 2007 was viewed positively by the US Embassy in Georgetown, which expected that it would strengthen relations.
According to an August 24, 2007 diplomatic cable sent to Washington by former embassy Charge d’Affaires Michael Thomas, although Jagdeo side-stepped four colonels in the GDF and promoted four others—Commodore Best along with Colonels Bruce Lovell, Andrew Pompey and Mark Phillips—the Embassy viewed the development positively. This was since all four of the newly-promoted officers
