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President David Granger will make a State visit to Chile from tomorrow to Wednesday.

A release from the Ministry of the Presidency said that during the visit, the President will attend a meeting with President Michelle Bachelet at Palace Moneda and participate in the ceremony for the signing of two pacts between Guyana and Chile; the Open Skies Air Service Agreement and the Reciprocal Visa Abolition Agreement.

Granger will also deliver a lecture at the Andrés Bello Diplomatic Academy of Chile on ‘His vision and assessment as well as the strategic implications on his call for the Caribbean to be preserved as a zone of peace’. Observers say that the lecture will provide a further opportunity in the heart of South America for the President to underline Venezuelan aggression against Guyana.

The Guyanese Head of State said, according to the release, that relations between Guyana and Chile and that South American nation and CARICOM [Caribbean Community] as a whole are cordial and strong.  “Chile is a key member of UNASUR [The Union of South American Nations], CELAC [Community of Latin American and Caribbean States] and Mercosur and it only this year an embassy was opened in Georgetown. I would say the relations are cordial and strong and they are growing in strength now,” he said.

This trip follows President Bachelet’s visit to Guyana in July this year, where she held bilateral talks with President Granger and participated in the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting.

“This is a step towards strengthening the bonds between Chile and the Caribbean too. Chile particularly has a large maritime zone and the Caribbean really is a maritime zone so we expect that there will be a good base for bilateral cooperation,” said Granger, who will assume Chairmanship of CARICOM in 2017.

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Bibi Haniffa posted:

His trip to Washington DC a few days ago was kept top secret.

President says environmental protection cooperation an obligation, not option – at Conservation International Board Meeting


 

(MOTP) Washington D.C. – (October 21, 2016) Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Conservation International (CI), Mr. Peter Seligmann described President David Granger as a visionary and steadfast leader and committed the organisation’s support for his ‘green’ agenda, even as the Head of State made the case for ‘green’ economic development and conservation in Guyana, during a panel discussion at the official dinner of the Board of Directors Meeting. President Granger was joined on the panel by President Ian Khama of Botswana at the Decatur House in Washington, D.C.

from left- Mr. Russell Mittermeier, Ph.D., Executive Vice Chair, Conservation International, President Ian Khama of Botswana, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Conservation International, Mr. Peter Seligmann, President David Granger, former President Anote Tong of Kiribati, former President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mr. Rob Walton

from left- Mr. Russell Mittermeier, Ph.D., Executive Vice Chair, Conservation International, President Ian Khama of Botswana, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Conservation International, Mr. Peter Seligmann, President David Granger, former President Anote Tong of Kiribati, former President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mr. Rob Walton

The Guyanese Head of State declared his commitment, as incoming Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and as leader of a country that sits in the heart of the Guiana Shield, to work to develop and expand regional cooperation for conservation efforts.

He said, “In the Guiana Shield itself we need a build a stronger alliance because the Guiana Shield incorporates part of Colombia, part of Venezuela, all of Guyana and all of Suriname, all of La Guyane and part of Amapá and other parts of northern Brazil.  We have to collaborate… It is obligatory, not optional for us to collaborate and… my closest [CARICOM] neighbour is Suriname and we have already engaged in some level of collaboration and I would like to invite the other nations in northern South America to join us in ensuring that that Guiana Shield remains the second ‘garden of eden’.

Mr. Seligmann lauded the President’s position that the future of Guyana depends on the protection of the standing forest and his commitment to work within the Guiana Shield and the Caribbean Community to establish strong regional cooperation in the defence of the environment.

“He has made a commitment of putting 10 percent of his nation into protection; two million hectares and that is just the first step and he has come here to meet with CI, to meet with you to learn how we operate and what is it that we can do to support his visionary efforts as he looks at how you engage and involve Indigenous people, how you transform oil and gas revenues into forest conservation and how you actually create a strong economy that is balanced with the protection of nature. 

President David Granger chatting with Vice President of Conservation Policy, Ms. Lisa Famolare.

President David Granger chatting with Vice President of Conservation Policy, Ms. Lisa Famolare.

This is the type of leadership that the world needs,” he said.

Guyana is focused on the development of protected areas, wildlife management, coastal zone protection, as well as, the development of renewable sources of energy, even as the country’s value to the world as a new carbon sink in the reduction of climate change is emphasised, the President said.  However, he also indicated that education of Guyanese is important in ensuring that people understand the value of their natural resources in an economy with historical reliance on the extractive sectors. “There are challenges largely because of ignorance and we need to educate our children about the potential or possibility of making better use of our environment,” he said.

Speaking on the value of agreements like the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund and Norway Partnership, the President indicated that it is a model that can be replicated through similar agreements with other states since countries like Guyana are providing a service to the world. 

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Conservation International, Mr. Peter Seligmann chairing the panel discussion with President David Granger and President Ian Khama of Botswana

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Conservation International, Mr. Peter Seligmann chairing the panel discussion with President David Granger and President Ian Khama of Botswana

He said, “By protecting our forests we are making a contribution to the world and we are very happy to have such an agreement… It is good model and we would like to renew that model… and embark on similar agreements with other industrialised countries because we are providing a global asset, a global facility by absorbing so much carbon dioxide.”  The President added, though, that he looks forward to an renewal of that agreement that allows for the development of renewable energy options, beyond the current options for hydro-electricity. 

Mr. Seligmann declared CI’s commitment to supporting President Granger’s vision.  “It is extraordinary leadership and really, really timely.  We have seen so many of the forest areas on this planet disappear and your leadership and engagement and stimulus to others is really important and I just want to say for everybody in this room and everybody at CI, we are totally committed to helping you,” he said.

Earlier in the day, President Granger had met with the Botswanan Head of State, President Khama, and in an invited comment following that

President David Granger and Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Conservation International [CI), Mr. Peter Seligmann just before the Official Board dinner, last night.

President David Granger and Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Conservation International (CI), Mr. Peter Seligmann just before the Official Board dinner, last night.

meeting, he said that while the two countries are different geographically, there opportunities to learn from regional cooperation leadership.  “[President Kama] has been a leader in pioneering inter State cooperation for environmental protection and he has brought together several African states. There’s the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainable Development in Africa, where several states cooperate to preserve their environment and Guyana too, as a part of the Guiana Shield, is working with Suriname, French Guiana and the other states of the Guiana Shield; Brazil and Venezuela to do the same thing. So we are heading in the same direction and I believe that we have lessons to learn,” he said.

President Granger has expressed gratitude for the work CI has been doing in Guyana for more than 14 years, noting that a lot of the environmental protection education that has already occurred in Indigenous communities in Guyana has been through the organisations work.  He said, “Conservation International has been a very important partner. It is a very powerful non-governmental organisation. It has done work in Guyana; a lot of work has been done in the protected areas in the hinterland particularly in the Rupununi, and we have a lot to learn from their experiences and I believe we have a lot to benefit from their participation in future environmental projects.”

Guyana’s Head of State deliver an address to the members of the Board today.  Also in attendance at the meeting are former President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland and former President Anote Tong of Kiribati.

Django
Last edited by Django

Jango, next time you're in touch with Mr. Granjuh, ask him what he has against wearing a tie, that he looks like a rebel among everyone else. 

FM
Last edited by Former Member
Leonora posted:

Jango, next time you're in touch with Mr. Granjuh, ask him what he has against wearing a tie, that he looks like a rebel among everyone else. 

Jango show up without a tie and Granjuh took out his tie and gave it to him since Jango is the smarter of the two.

Bibi Haniffa
Leonora posted:

Jango, next time you're in touch with Mr. Granjuh, ask him what he has against wearing a tie, that he looks like a rebel among everyone else. 

Leonora,I hate a tie never liked wearing it,maybe there is something in common,I doubt we are alone.

Django

"Granger will also deliver a lecture at the Andrés Bello Diplomatic Academy of Chile on ‘His vision and assessment as well as the strategic implications on his call for the Caribbean to be preserved as a zone of peace’. Observers say that the lecture will provide a further opportunity in the heart of South America for the President to underline Venezuelan aggression against Guyana."  Granger really thinks that Chile will back his ass if Venezuela decides to invade.   Where is our well trained army that he was in charge of for so many years

alena06
alena06 posted:

 Granger really thinks that Chile will back his ass if Venezuela decides to invade.   Where is our well trained army that he was in charge of for so many years

What makes you think the GDF and the Guyanese people will not defend an invasion by Venezuela??

Do you think the world will stand idly and allow such an aggression??

Django

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