THE cultures of Guyana and Venezuela were celebrated on Sunday at the Young Men’s Christian Association on Thomas Lands.

The event was organised by Spanglish GY, the Venezuelan Support Group and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These groups are working to provide some form of relief to the migrants.

According to Co-organiser of Spanglish GY, Gordon Roberts, “This event is basically to promote cohesion between the Venezuelan community and the Guyanese community.”
The event also featured music, dance and foods from the two neighbouring countries.

Roberts, whose group provides a space for language learning between the two groups, said “We just want to create a space where we can both learn from each other.”

“We are happy that the Venezuelan people and the Guyanese people came here today because I think it shows that they can live here peacefully together and as long,” UNHCR Senior Liaison Officer for Guyana, Cecilie Saenz Guerrero said.
She added that the Government of Guyana has shown graciousness in welcoming the Venezuelans to Guyana, as well as providing them access to health care and other services.

“From the organisations present here today and the Guyanese people, I think that the future looks very good and it is a good situation we have today. As long as we come together and share what we have in common, we don’t think that Guyana will see the type of xenophobia that has been in some of the other countries in the Americas,” the senior representative of UNHCR said.

UNHCR initiated work in Guyana in August to support the government’s efforts in providing relief to the Venezuelan migrants and to support those Guyanese who are returning home.

“Our primary responsibility here is to support the government to make it easier for them to provide the services to the Venezuelan people,” she said.