A bridge to Latin America
Editorial
PRESIDENT Janet Jagan has again brought to the fore an issue she readily agrees has been much talked about but not adequately strategised. At the annual diplomatic corps dinner Friday at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel, she reiterated Guyana's commitment to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and noted that the country is also involved in the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). But, she pointed out, it is an "absolute necessity" for Guyana to move closer to Latin America in this era of integration, diversification and establishing linkages and open regionalism. Not in any way downplaying this country's "deep and close" ties with CARICOM, she has committed Guyana to realising the goal "to be a bridge to Latin America." "For too long we have spoken about the necessity to play this role but never have we sat down to strategise and formulate a structural approach to reaching this objective", President Jagan told the gathering. Guyana is more and more moving towards closer structural ties with its immediate neighbours - Suriname, Venezuela and Brazil - where tens of thousands of Guyanese already reside. President Jagan has also given priority to completing the road link between Guyana and Brazil - a step that was given further impetus during her recent state visit to Brazil and which would open immense avenues for the "structural approach" to the bridge vision. We agree that there has been a lot of talk about this bridge concept and that it is time for concrete steps towards forging this connection. Advocates of a `continental destiny' for Guyana have argued that this country should eschew its common colonial, historical, cultural and other ties with most CARICOM members with which it has little else in common, for better links with its more immediate neighbours and other nations in Latin America. The ferry link with Suriname has made a huge difference to travel between the two countries but it is amazing that getting to Brazil and Venezuela is a travel itinerary fraught with problems. For example, getting to Caracas in Venezuela could mean flying to the Caribbean and getting to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil could involve flight connections in Miami in the United States. These and many other major factors would have to be changed if Guyana is to take full advantage of the regional integration objective that has taken hold internationally. A major opportunity for fleshing out this bridge concept the Guyana President reiterated Friday night, comes up later this month at the key summit of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union in Rio de Janeiro. It is a bridge that could propel Guyana's development faster and to the benefit of its historical sister CARICOM states.
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