President Ali to attend Summit of the Americas this week

…corruption, security, trade & democracy among topics on agenda

President Dr Irfaan Ali has confirmed that he will be leading a delegation to Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA), to attend the ninth Summit of the Americas, which is slated for this week, the first time the summit will be held in the US since 1994.

In a statement on Tuesday from the Office of the President, it was explained that President Ali will be accompanied by First Lady Arya Ali, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud and Ambassador George Talbot.
The event is being held under the theme “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future”. Through the summit, leaders from the United States, North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean are expected to explore economic relationships and common goals for the Western Hemisphere.

Discussions are expected to cover topics such as democracy, clean energy, digital transformation, climate change, migration, recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, building resilience, and boosting economic growth. A number of initiatives are also expected to be launched in some of these areas.
“Over the years, the summits have focused on critical cooperation in the Americas. This has allowed countries to work together to promote democracy and human rights, increase economic competitiveness, promote development, improve access to clean energy and communication technology, strengthen regional security, and counter illicit trafficking,” the Office of the President explained.
“In the eighth summit, leaders had committed to fighting the corruption that undermines democratic governance when they met in Lima, Peru, in 2018. The United States is hosting for the first time since the summit began in Miami in 1994 with President Bill Clinton. A packed schedule of events is carded for the week, including plenary and roundtable discussions.”
Several regional leaders had previously threatened to boycott the summit on the basis of whether Cuban and Venezuelan leaders are excluded. Among the leaders who have threatened boycotts if Cuba and Venezuela are excluded are Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Bolivian President Luis Arce and Antigua, and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
Besides Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, mere hours after he left Guyana following the successful conclusion of the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo last month, also confirmed that he would be attending the summit.
“I will be attending the summit and I expect that if not all, a majority of my Caricom colleagues will be there and we have serious and interesting matters to engage the US on and we look forward to that,” Rowley told Trinidadian media.
Venezuela has been embroiled in deep economic and political turmoil over the past few years, following an election that the United States and other members of the international community have said was not credible.
The country has been beset by protests, hyperinflation, and large sections of the international community backing Juan Guaido as the interim President of the country, even while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro remained in power.
All of this has come even as Guyana pursues its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where it is seeking a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award which established the location of the land boundary between the then-British Guiana and Venezuela remains valid and binding, and that Guyana’s Essequibo region belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela, as is being claimed by the Spanish-speaking country. Guyana moved to the World Court in 2018, after exhausting all means of negotiation with Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the US has had an embargo in place against Cuba, a long-time ally of Guyana, since 1962. Relations between the US and Cuba had thawed under the Barack Obama Administration, before being tightened up again under his successor.
As of Tuesday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Mexican President Obrador have already confirmed their nonattendance at the gathering. Venezuela and Nicaragua have also not been invited. It is expected that 23 Heads of Government will attend the gathering.