February 13, 2004
Chavez to visit Thursday

VENEZUELAN President, Mr. Hugo Chavez will pay a State visit to Guyana on February 19, 2004.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release yesterday that President Bharrat Jagdeo and President Chavez will meet for official talks at the Office of the President on Thursday morning.

High on the agenda for those discussions will be a review of the relations between Guyana and Venezuela over the past few years; the Good Officer Process that seeks, under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General, to peacefully resolve the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela; the intensification of bilateral cooperation between the two states; and an exchange of view on regional and international issues of importance to Guyana and Venezuela.

During his State visit, President Chavez will attend a civic reception and will address the National Assembly of Guyana. The Venezuelan President will also meet with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Hari Narayen Ramkarran, S.C, M.P., Leader of the Opposition Robert Corbin, M.P, and the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community, H.E Edwin Carrington. He will also lay a floral tribute at the Non-Aligned Monument.

Over the past three and a half years, Guyana and Venezuela have endeavoured, through contacts at the official level, to deepen bilateral cooperation and to build on their diplomatic relations which were formally established on November 25, 1966.