President Donald Ramotar who was sworn in on Saturday has promised to continue building on the good neighbourly relations between Guyana and its South American neighbours.
“We will pursue a policy that will promote peace in the region and in the world and we are ready to promote a policy that will help our people to live together and understand each other,” said President Ramotar who was at the time the President-elect when he was interviewed by the Venezuela-headquartered television network TeleSUR.
He was at the time speaking during an exclusive interview with journalist of TeleSur Venezuela Inter-national, Madelein Garcia, who was in Guyana to cover the 2011 General and Regional elections, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
Ramotar was asked about the new approaches to integration in South America, in light of the agenda for a two-day inaugural summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in neighbouring Venezuela.
The summit started Friday but Guyana because of the national and regional elections was not represented. However, Ramotar assured that he will continue to build on the foundation for the diplomatic cooperation that was laid by his forerunner with Venezuela and the other neighbours.
“We are moving towards a period where we are trying to get more integration within South America… I see also that we can have a unique role in this in the sense that we can act like a bridge between the Caribbean and South America… bring the whole region together and help with the integration process,” Ramotar said.
The Guyana/Venezuela relations that have in the past been restricted to border issues is now forging ahead with cooperation agreements on energy and agriculture, GINA stated.
After fruitful discussion with former President Bharrat Jagdeo and a delegation that visited the Bolivarian Republic in July 2010, the Venezuelan Government had offered to increase the quantity of oil shipped to Guyana as obtained under the Petrocaribe agreement.
On the local scene President Ramotar was questioned on the conduct and outcome of the recently-held national and regional elections and shared his outlook for Guyana now that the polling process is over.
He rejected assertions of a divide along ethnic lines reiterating that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has been and continues to be committed to the principles of equity for all Guyanese regardless of creed or ethnicity.
He also shared his thoughts on the approach to governance in the absence of a parliamentary majority for the ruling party, reiterating that any decision making must take into consideration the interest of all Guyanese, GINA reported.
