Guyana welcomes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today

…as another US$5.5M injected to help Caribbean farmers, boost productivity

With the aim of enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries, United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will be meeting with President Dr Irfaan Ali and other senior Government officials in Guyana today to discuss a wide range of priority issues.
Secretary Blinken is travelling to Georgetown for a one-day visit. He recently attended the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, where he engaged several regional heads. During today’s visit, the US Secretary of State will meet with President Ali and his Cabinet to discuss priority bilateral issues, including food and energy security and decarbonisation, climate resilience, regional migration, and building local capacity.
President Ali and Secretary Blinken previously met in Washington DC nearly a year ago, in July 2022. At that engagement, President Ali said Guyana welcomes the opportunity to further strengthen its relationship with the US as a strategic partner, particularly during its period of growth. He had also highlighted the countries’ shared values and their quests to strengthen the region.
In his remarks at the time, the US Secretary of State had said Guyana has been a very strong partner for his country, and has been a global leader. The two countries, he added, will continue to advance discussions and collaboration in areas for cooperation.

Secretary Blinken’s one-day visit to Guyana is part of efforts by the US Government to strengthen ties with Guyana and other Caribbean nations.
At a media briefing last Friday, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti at the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Barbara Feinstein, said Secretary Blinken’s visits to Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago will further deepen the US diplomatic engagement with 14 steadfast democracies.
“On July 6th, the Secretary will meet with President Irfaan Ali in Georgetown, Guyana. Secretary Blinken and President Ali will discuss priority bilateral issues, including food and energy security and decarbonization, climate resilience, regional migration, and building local capacity.
“Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana are among our closest partners in the Caribbean. We look forward to engaging with their leaders and partners across the region to discuss a range of shared priorities, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Caricom,” Feinstein had noted.
This visit by Secretary Blinken to the region is building on Vice President Kamala Harris’s historic June 8 visit to The Bahamas, where she co-hosted the U.S-Caribbean Leaders Meeting.

Partnering with Caribbean
During his remarks to the Caricom Plenary session in Trinidad on Wednesday, the US Secretary of State reiterated his country’s commitment to partnering with the Caribbean to address the growing food insecurity across the region, which he acknowledged has dramatically intensified in recent years due to a combination of global issues such as climate change, COVID-19, and the Russia/Ukraine war.
To this end, Secretary Blinken announced today that “…we’ll dedicate an additional nearly US$5.5 million to help small farmers in the Caribbean boost productivity, increase access to technology and markets, and adopt climate smart practices.”
In recognition of a clear resolve and desire by regional leaders to grow sufficient food for their people, the US official noted that his country is lending its expertise from across the entire Government to help achieve that goal; that is, from the Department of Agriculture to the Environmental Protection Agency to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Meanwhile, today’s high-level visit is the second time that a US Secretary of State will be in Guyana under the current People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.
Back in September 2020, shortly after the swearing in of the Irfaan Ali-led Administration, then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had paid a visit to Guyana, during which he announced US$3 million for a “locally-led programme for citizens’ involvement in the Government”, and another US$1.5 million for “the youth of Guyana will be involved in democracy as well”. These fundings were from USAID.
Pompeo had also announced the allocation of US$5 million to assist Venezuelans in Guyana who were forced to flee their country due to severe economic hardships and other political issues which have gripped the nation in recent years. (G8)