President David Granger left yesterday for the Fourth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Ecuador today with the intention of ensuring that Guyana’s concern on the security of small states is placed on the agenda of the meeting.
“This is a unique organisation because it combines the small states of the Caribbean and larger states of Central and South America from Mexico, right down to Argentina. The two groups of states are almost evenly balanced. I would say that it is an opportunity for the small states to have a voice in the international community and yes I would say that there needs to be a special regime to pay attention to the concerns of small states,” Granger was quoted by the Ministry of the Presidency as saying.
He added: “The concerns of Guyana are well known and we intend to put those concerns on the table and seek assurances from the larger and medium size states that our security would be protected in this hemisphere. Small states are very important because; without the protective shield that we speak about, without fair trading practices, without greater equity, the small states would be vulnerable and once the small states are vulnerable, everybody is vulnerable. It is in the collective interest to pay attention to the concerns of the small states,” the President said.
Granger said that there is some expectation that the simmering border controversy with Venezuela may be discussed.
“It is not a confrontational meeting. It is a meeting in which we build consensus and yes I expect the matter to arise and we have a position. As you know, we have engaged the United Nations General Assembly; the Secretary General himself is fully appraised of our position and we are working towards a juridical settlement as quickly as possible. Venezuela is aware of that and that is what we will adhere to,” said Granger.
Granger added that he looks forward to a speedy resolution to the matter of Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela, being accredited to function in that country so that there would be no breakdown in communication between the two states. Stabroek News reported on Monday that the Ambassador-designate, Cheryl Miles has been in Caracas for several months without being accredited and Venezuela has provided no explanation.
“…The value that I see coming out of this meeting is building consensus and getting the continent, particularly, South America and the Caribbean and the entire hemisphere to move forward much more quickly. Other groupings in Asia and Europe and North America have agendas and move forward very quickly but we need, in the Caribbean and South America, to get our agenda together and to start moving quickly because we have a lot of poor people, we have a lot of challenges and the quicker we build a consensus, and to the extent that is possible, unify the interest of the Caribbean and South America, the quicker our people will have a better life,” Granger added.
CELAC was formed on December 3, 2011, in Caracas, Venezuela.
