“I FIRMLY believe that in the 21st Century, there is no place for old territorial disputes,” says Brazil’s Ambassador to Guyana, Lineu Pupo de Paula.
“Guyana has the right, and I agree that the government has a duty to seek the development of the country. The common goal should be the welfare of all peoples of the Region. South America is a place of peace and will continue to be because Brazil will not accept any turmoil in its borders,” the Brazilian envoy said Monday evening at a function at his residence to mark his country’s 193rd Independence Anniversary.

It was a position with which President David Granger agreed, as he reiterated his commitment to working to ensure peace in the Region, while protecting Guyana’s borders.
Delivering the keynote address at the function, President Granger said Guyana is looking forward to working with Brazil to reaffirm the inviolability of borders on the continent.
“We are encouraged by Brazil’s determination not to accept any disturbance on its borders,” President Granger said, adding that Guyana has the right and a duty to seek the economic development of its resources, for the good of its people, as he reiterated that South America should be a zone of peace.
On the issue of bilateral relations between Guyana and Brazil, President Granger said both countries have a vested interest in each other’s development.
“We recall, with a deep sense of satisfaction, the State visit of President Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva in March 2007, and the commissioning of the bridge between Guyana and Brazil in September 2009,” he said.
Both the 2007 visit and the commissioning of the bridge, President Granger said, are symbolic of the deep and wide areas of bilateral cooperation that have existed between our two countries over the last 47 years.
It’s a relationship he’s committed to deepening, widening, as well as strengthening, he said, and is looking forward to having even more fruitful talks with President Dilma Rousseff in the near future.
As Ambassador de Paula noted, the whole purpose to inviting Guyana to join in their celebrations is to bring the two countries together in reaffirming their desire to build a free society, and a stable and lasting democracy.
“We the people are the ones responsible for the fate of our countries, and, for that, we must unite our projects with the fate of our countries in search of an egalitarian and just society, where everyone has the same rights and opportunities,” Ambassador de Paula said.
And, in reaffirming his country’s commitment to Guyana’s development, Ambassador de Paula said:
“Brazil has a vested interest in the development of Guyana, and we are always ready to help.”
Noting that the areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries are broad, he said they include the infrastructural development projects needed for a better connection between the two countries that share a border of over a thousand kilometres.
Ambassador de Paula also seized the opportunity to congratulate President Granger on his election to office, which he felt was an auspicious occasion.
“I firmly believe that alternation of power is essential to any democracy,” he said. (Ministry of the Presidency)