U.S. seizure of Mae Thomas’ phone: President says ‘no motive, normal routine procedure’

Thomas will remain as his Ministry’s Permanent Secretary even as the authorities here try to determine why her phone was confiscated.

The Permanent Secretary arrived in Guyana last weekend but is not in office. He said replacing Thomas is not under consideration.

Thomas was allowed to continue her trip onwards to China but without her phone, a move that left Guyanese authorities puzzled since the phone likely contains sensitive information related to national security and foreign relations.

In a response to query from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the incident involving Thomas, the United States embassy in Georgetown on Friday said there was no specific information to share.