For Guyana’s historic hosting of IV Regular Summit of UNASUR
ALL preparatory and other arrangements are in place for Guyana’s historic hosting of the important IV Regular Summit of Heads of State and Government representing the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

Over the next three days, especially on Friday, the UNASUR Summit in Guyana will be history in the making, as Guyana, the only English-speaking country on the South American continent, leads the way for consolidating a unified South America; that is, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

Members of the UNASUR planning committee and other officials met yesterday to finalise arrangements for the Summit, ahead of tomorrow’s meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of UNASUR countries to be held at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

Advance delegations from several countries have already arrived in Guyana, and Heads of State and Government, along with their respective delegations, are expected to start arriving later today for the Summit.

The Foreign Ministers meeting is slated to commence at 9:00 hrs tomorrow, while at 18:30 hrs tomorrow afternoon will be a major highlight of the Summit – the conferring of Guyana’s Order of Excellence on His Excellency Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

Later the same evening will be a cultural programme in honour of Lula – the outgoing and charismatic Brazilian President – entitled ‘Landscape and Festivals’. Immediately following this will be a reception at the National Cultural Centre for delegates and invitees attending the award and cultural programme.

The delegates and invitees will then proceed to State House for a State Dinner hosted by His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo in honour of the visiting Heads of State and Government of UNASUR.

On Friday, there will be the opening session of the IV Regular Summit of the UNASUR Heads of State and Government at 10:00 hrs at the Guyana International Conference Centre.

The historic transfer of the rotating presidency of UNASUR will also take place on Friday, when the chair will be transferred to Guyana, with His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo assuming the leadership position in the organization and where it will be his celebrated task to lead UNASUR on to the next milestone.
The fourth summit will be chaired by outgoing Chairman, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador.

UNASUR is an intergovernmental union integrating two South American trade blocs — Mercosur (a regional trade agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and the Andean Community of Nations (a trade bloc comprising countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru).

Participating nations of UNASUR are Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and Chile.

In May 2008, the UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed for a headquarters in Quito, a South American Parliament in Bolivia and a Bank (The Bank of the South) in Venezuela. In August 2009, President Bharrat Jagdeo joined other Heads of Government of UNASUR in participating in the inauguration of President Rafael Correa of Ecuador for a second term. His tenure ends during the same period Guyana takes on the chairmanship.

The value and importance of UNASUR as a mechanism for consensus and an effective political space to solve the differences in South America were highlighted by both President Jagdeo and President Hugo Chavez during a visit by President Jagdeo to Venezuela in July of this year.

During the visit, the Venezuelan leader extended best wishes to President Jagdeo on Guyana’s impending accession to the chairmanship of the Union.