–for work he has accomplished while here

OUTGOING US Ambassador to Guyana, Dr. Brent Hardt, paid President Donald Ramotar a final courtesy call yesterday, and was lauded for the work he has done here during his three-year tenure.

“He has done quite a lot of work while he was in Guyana,” the Head of State said to the media during a news conference at the Office of the President.

The Ambassador expressed his appreciation to the President and his Administration for their “openness and accessibility” during his tenure.
He said, “I have just paid my farewell call on H.E. President Donald Ramotar, and had the opportunity to thank him for his personal engagement and that of his entire government over the past three years in deepening the bilateral relationship between Guyana and the United States.

“I thanked him for his personal openness and accessibility throughout my tenure. We have had very close and productive dialogue that you would expect among friends.”

Hardt also acknowledged that while the two countries have shared goals, they have not always been in agreement on the path to achieving the goals.

“Our countries enjoy a rich and textured relationship. We share common goals, values and aspirations for our people, while it is true that we may not always agree on the path to achieve those goals and values,” he said.

The US Ambassador accepted this difference of opinion as “normal”, and explained that this is the “essence” of diplomatic work; trying to find ways forward that achieve the goals and aspirations we all seek.

“From the time of my arrival, I have conveyed to President Ramotar that US priorities are to work in partnership with Guyana to build a Guyana that is prosperous, safe and secure, democratic and healthy.

“Everything our mission has worked on these past three years has been toward those broad goals and shared goals,” he stressed.
Dr Hardt underscored the efforts in law enforcement cooperation as one of the areas where partnership was boosted. He said, “Our cooperation has been boosted significantly by the extraordinary Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) partnership…. It has developed intensely over the past few years, which has seen tremendous enhancements to Guyana’s capacity to combat illicit trafficking, most recently with the addition of three new Metal Shark vessels for the GDF that the President accepted on behalf of the Government.

“But in addition to enhancing the capacity of our partners, it is really vital to be able to build on that capacity for closer operational engagement between our law enforcement agencies.”

The US Ambassador is expected to leave Guyana in early July.

(By Vanessa Narine)