Dear Editor,
It is with pleasure that I note Guyana will be hosting the Inter-Guiana games from 21st to 23rd of this month. This event, among other lovely ideals, seeks to promote people to people contact among neighbouring countries.
It is on this point that I wish to focus. Strictly speaking the Guiana shield is a geographical area washed by the Atlantic and hemmed in by the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, which are connected by the Casiquiare canal. Thus it includes large parts of northern Brazil and Eastern Venezuela.
With this in mind, it is my view that organisers of future inter-guiana games should make every effort to include participants from those countries and specifically those regions that fall within the Guiana shield area.
This will augur well for the skill levels and competitiveness of all our players, noting the high standard of sport in Brazil and Venezuela, improve people to people contact and open new opportunities for our athletes in these non-traditional disciplines.
In a more fundamental way, we will be making incremental steps towards improved relations among neighouring countries, and stepping away from old colonial notions of what the concept “Guianas” mean.
Yours faithfully,
William John Harris
