Presidents of Brazil, Guyana and Suriname meet after summit in Georgetown

After participating as a guest at the 46th Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Wednesday (February 28) in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had a trilateral meeting with the presidents of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, and Suriname, Chan Santokhi. The main topic was the importance of greater integration between the countries.

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 In Guyana, Lula highlights opportunities of integration between Brazil and Caribbean countries

Joint statement by the presidents of Brazil, Guyana and Suriname

After a welcome from Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, President Lula began by talking about the need to integrate the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, not only in terms of regional and diplomatic cooperation, but also physically, with the expansion of travel infrastructure between the various territories, in a region that presents many opportunities.

ROUTES – One of the members of the Brazilian delegation, Planning Minister Simone Tebet, emphasized that integration with Latin America has been one of the government's goals since President Lula's first terms in office, with progress made in partnerships with the BNDES, the IDB and other regional development banks. She presented the South American Integration Routes plan to neighboring governments. Called Guianas Island, route 1 of the plan is precisely the one that will link the Guianas with northern Brazil.

“It was extremely positive, firstly because they heard, from Brazil's side, what we are doing in terms of infrastructure, ports, airports, transportation, regional integration, customs, energy, transnational crimes. And from their side we heard all the difficulties, but I think the great positive leap is to see that both Guyana and Suriname have the same line of thinking, the same desire politically to integrate. This route is of interest to Brazil not only to sell its products to these countries, but also to have a route through the Panama Canal to the Pacific and the Caribbean," the minister told journalists after the meeting.

PROJECTS – For his part, the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes, mentioned how the Guyana Island is a project for multimodal integration of the region, involving ports, airports, waterways, railroads and highways. He also detailed the development of communication, monitoring and impact management systems for natural disasters, for greater coordination between countries in the region.

The Minister of Transportation, Renan Filho, spoke about various road projects in the states of Amapá and Roraima that will be used to improve the infrastructure connecting them to Guyana, such as the highway linking Boa Vista (RR) to the Guyanese capital Georgetown, which will be built with funds from both countries, as well as financing from development banks.

The Minister of Ports and Airports, Sílvio Costa Filho, spoke about the strategic importance of ports such as Santana (AP), Vila do Conde/Belém (PA) and Manaus (AM) for integration with neighboring countries. He also highlighted the necessity of developing and expanding the region's waterways and the investments planned for the airports in Macapá and Boa Vista.

CONNECTION – The president of Suriname, Chan Santokhi, stressed the importance of cooperation between the three countries, adding that the initiative could turn the region into a hub for the entire Caribbean, enabling industrial, energy and commercial development. For him, technical cooperation with Brazil will help with conservation and the monitoring of natural disasters in the Amazon, as well as combating illegal mining and the use of mercury in mining.

In his speech, Guyana's Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo highlighted the leadership of Brazil and President Lula on regional issues. According to him, Guyana's future and prosperity are "deeply linked to Brazil and Suriname". He also said that he was interested in importing Brazilian food to guarantee Guyana's food security and spoke of the possibility of greater energy trade between the countries.

SUMMITS – At the end of the meeting, President Lula highlighted the integration projects with the region, which will be a priority in the government. He also mentioned the possibility of holding a new summit between Brazil and the CARICOM countries, like the one held in the country in 2010, at the end of his second term.

On Thursday, February 29, the president travels from Guyana to Kingstown, the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in the Caribbean. The following day, he will attend the opening of the 8th Summit of Heads of State and Government of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.