Guyana not yet open for visa-free South America tourist travel
Stabroek News
December 18, 2006
Guyana was the only member of the South American Community of Nations which did not sign an agreement to allow tourists to travel within the region without visas or passports.
The signing took place in Santiago, Chile recently. Stabroek News understands that Guyana was constrained in acceding to the agreement at the time because of the current arrangements in place with nine other Caricom countries for the hosting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 tournament as a single domestic space. It is understood, however, that Guyana would be signing on once the agreement which brought into being the single domestic space for the CWC host venues expires.
The single domestic space comes into being from January 15, 2007 to May 15, 2007. Having a single domestic space means that Caricom nationals travelling within the ten countries would not have to have their passports stamped at ports of entry but they would be required to travel with their passports for identification purposes as well as to respond to any immigration queries that might arise.
Suriname, another Caricom member, was able to sign on to the South American Community of Nations agreement because it is not a host venue for the CWC tournament.
The other South American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay have signed the agreement to encourage internal tourism on the continent. However, it would only come into effect 90 days after four of the 10 nations would have ratified it.
The agreement is meant to boost a South American tourist market in the region which has long been a destination for European and North American travellers.
This means that citizens from the 10 nations would be able to travel within the region by showing only an identity card at country borders, a Reuters report said. They will not need a visa and will be able to stay in a country for a period of 90 days.
"We believe this measure will help us get to know how things are in each country," Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said at the signing ceremony. Guyana already has a partial abolition of visas agreement with Brazil which means that Brazilian visitors could stay in either country for not more than 90 days. It is renewable for a period not exceeding 180 days. Visa restrictions remain in effect for business travellers. Guyanese and Brazilians on both sides of the border are using the facility. (Miranda La Rose)