President urges action on a Guyana/SA link
Guyana Chronicle
February 20, 2004
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo, hosting a one-day State visit to Guyana by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, yesterday reiterated his commitment to working with President Chavez to realize the Venezuelan leader's vision for "the creation of a vital infrastructure" linking the Guyana Shield with the whole of South America.
President Jagdeo was delivering a welcome speech at a luncheon at State House honoring a very jovial President Chavez and his delegation.
"With the creation of vital infrastructures to link the countries of the Guyana Shield, and South America as a whole, a new and dynamic hub can be formed to generate trade and economic expansion. I still recall the passionate enthusiasm with which you spoke of this exciting possibility and the rewards that it could offer to our countries. It is a vision that I fully share..."
President Chavez's State visit also conjured up memories of President Jagdeo's meeting with him at the South Summit in 2000. "At that time, as I recall, we had promised to get to know each other better in order to promote greater friendship and understanding between our two countries and peoples. You had undertaken to teach me baseball while I in turn would induct you to the intricacies of cricket.
"It was a jocular exchange but one that I have not forgotten because it augured well for our future relations. For it is through a greater appreciation of each other's culture and closer cooperation that our people will be able to develop greater confidence and trust in our association. We must therefore grasp every opportunity that will facilitate greater contacts between our two countries and peoples."
President Jagdeo's speech came after President Chavez had met briefly with just under 60 students of Queen's College, Bishop's High and St. Rose's High Schools on the lawns of State House.
The programme was running over two hours late so President Chavez, who always endears himself to children and young people, invited the students to Venezuela in July. By that time, he said, he'd be able to spend more time talking with them.
Inside State House, where the luncheon was attended by top Guyanese and Venezuelan officials, President Jagdeo recalled to attempts by Guyana and Venezuela over the years to "create a more propitious climate for enhancing" Guyana/Venezuela relations.
He expressed disappointment that high-level visits and the establishment of mechanisms for practical collaboration hadn't lived up to the high expectations of a more enlightened and productive partnership between Venezuelans and Guyanese, but held out hope that his discussions with President Chavez would "serve to re-launch and revitalize our common determination to dynamize our relations."
President Jagdeo also welcomed the resumption of efforts by the United Nations to address the border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela and added: "As neighbouring countries, seeking to preserve our security and stability, Guyana and Venezuela must work together to protect themselves from this contagion.
"Ultimately, the future welfare of our peoples lies in the greater integration of our hemisphere. This was the ideal for which the great Simon Bolivar fought and died. It must now be the ideal of all leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean if we are to guarantee the political, economic and social advancement of our countries."