In the fullness of time the significance of Thursday’s February 29 Trilateral Meeting that brought together Guyana’s President, Irfaan Ali, Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, and Suriname’s President, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, will become a good deal clearer in terms of its particular significance to the three countries, both collectively and in terms of their respective objectives, though its timing would appear to suggest that the three neighbouring countries may now be ready to ramp up relations among themselves in areas of common economic interests.
Oil is what the three countries have in common. Brazil is the giant here; Guyana is the emerging power and Suriname would appear to be on the cusp of a major oil recovery operation. Any significant collaborative undertaking that involves the three countries and with Brazil being well ahead of the pack in terms of the size and advancement of its oil sector, there can hardly be any question as to who will lead the way. For the three South American countries that appear set to forge ahead in terms of strengthening their economic and strategic ties, oil is as good a platform to stand on though informed analysts are likely to argue that such an alliance is more than likely to get the attention of Venezuela, particularly since information released from the trilateral meeting in Georgetown signals that the engagement between the respective working groups of three countries involved in the meeting reportedly focused on “infrastructure, energy and security.”
