Guyana President Invited To Address South American Defence Council

Photo above: Guyana President, David Granger (left), and UNASUR Secretary-General, Ernesto Samper. Photo credit: GINA.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Feb. 25, (CMC) – Guyana President, David Granger, has been invited to join the South American Defence Council, to speak on the issues of security and defence as it relates to small states and the Caribbean.

The invitation came from Secretary-General of the Union of South American States (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper, who met with the president today.

During the meeting, the Secretary-General also pledged to foster closer ties between Guyana and UNASUR.

“We discussed the regional agenda of UNASUR and the importance of the participation of Guyana in these matters, especially on topics such as infrastructure, since we will be employing some projects here.

“I also invited him to the South American Defence Council to explain his theories about the security of the Caribbean, and its implications on the security of the whole region, and then we spoke about the South American Citizenship program that we are supporting and presenting to all the countries,” Samper said.

On the issue of the border controversy with Venezuela, Samper said, that UNASUR would like to see a peaceful resolution, so that the region can continue to be a zone of peace…… I have been saying for the last month – that they (Venezuela and Guyana) can find a way to solve their differences, because it is a peaceful region and we all want the peace of Guyana and Venezuela,” he said.

The South American Citizenship Program had its genesis at the Sixth Summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), held in Lima Peru in 2012. The Summit had concluded with a firm proposal to create a single South American citizenship.

During a meeting with the Secretary-General, last year in Paramaribo, Suriname, President Granger had said, that Guyana is committed to the infrastructural integration of South America.

He had also noted, that UNASUR’s agenda, to promote peace, democracy and human rights, could only be realised within a framework of peace and respect among South American states.

Samper was accompanied to the meeting by Juan Salazar, Advisor of Chile to UNASUR; Enrique Vala Naruaja; Advisor of Argentina to UNASUR, Mauricio Dorfler; Director of Political Affairs of UNASUR and Advisor on Infrastructure (Brazil) Bernardo Figueheido; and Romina Marconi, International Assistant to the Secretary General.