President Bharrat Jagdeo accepted letters of credence from the new Brazilian and Cuban envoys to Guyana at a simple ceremony hosted in the credentials room at the Office of the President last week.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release Luiz Gilberto Seixas de Andrade, Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil and Raul Gortazar Marrero, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, presented their letters on Wednesday.
Brazil and Guyana will tomorrow commission the Takutu Bridge to connect Lethem to the northern Brazilian state of Roraima. Discussions are also being held about establishing an 800MW hydropower project in the Middle Mazaruni area in Region Seven that is expected to feed into Roraima’s power grid. The ambassador’s tenure is expected to bring much greater integration between the two neighbouring countries.
Cuba and Guyana have also enjoyed a fertile relationship particularly in the health sector where recently the state-of-the-art National Ophthalmology Hospital was opened in Port Mourant, Berbice. Also, with Cuban assistance, government has built four modern diagnostic and treatment centres at Suddie in Essequibo, Leonora on West Coast Demerara, Diamond on East Bank Demerara and Mahaicony. Thousands of Guyanese have also benefited from free eye care through the Mission Miracle programme in Cuba where several students are undergoing training in a number of disciplines in the medical field.
According to GINA, plans are in train to strengthen these ties during Marrero’s tenure. The ambassador was born in Havana on October 7, 1960, and holds a master’s degree in national defence. He has also completed several post-graduate courses on international relations and has served in Cuba’s Foreign Service since 1982. Marrero has also had assignments in Mexico, Uruguay and the Latin American and Caribbean Office of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
GINA said the Brazilian ambassador was born on October 21, 1950 in Rio de Janeiro and graduated from the Brazilian Diplomatic Academy in 1976. He has served in several missions around the world including in New York, Buenos Aires, London, Copenhagen and Rome.