A meeting yesterday in Washington between President Irfaan Ali and the US Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) focussed on this country’s development agenda and was highly informative and most welcomed, the Head of State says.
“(The) meeting focused on Guyana’s developmental agenda, our global, regional and domestic policies. We discussed the role of Guyana in the region and I updated the caucus on the growth, transformation taking place for the benefit of all Guyanese,” President Ali told the Stabroek News when contacted yesterday, even as he informed that he was at the time in another meeting.
“The meeting was most welcome and highly informative,” he added.
This newspaper understands that while the President did not have a dedicated meeting with House Minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat representative for New York’s 8th congressional district, was also a part of the meeting with the CBC.
In the United States, the majority of Guyanese migrants live in New York City.
Ali and Jeffries had met on the sidelines of a CARICOM summit in Trinidad, in July of this year.
The Government of Guyana has criticised Jeffries for positions he has taken on domestic matters. Jeffries did not respond to an invitation to meet with President Ali in Washington last year. Jeffries is the first Black American to hold a top leadership position in the House or Senate.
During a previous visit to the US capital, Ali had met members of the CBC.
The CBC comprises mostly African-American members of the United States Congress. It is currently chaired by Representative Steven Horsford from Nevada.
On its website, the CBC states that since its establishment in 1971, it has “been committed to using the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the federal government to ensure that African Americans and other marginalized communities in the United States have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.”
