A WikiLeaks cable from the US embassy in Brasilia in 2009 noted ongoing talks between Guyana and Brazil on a massive hydropower plant and said that President Bharrat Jagdeo’s thinking was that it would help to consolidate Georgetown’s hold on Essequibo which is the subject of a longstanding controversy with Venezuela.
The last official word from Brasilia on this project came in November last year when former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared his country and successor’s continued commitment to it. He was speaking at a ceremony in Georgetown where he was conferred with the Order of Excellence.
An October 9, 2009 cable under the name of Charge d’Affaires in Brasilia, Lisa Kubiske noted that International Advisor to Brazil’s Minister for