President David Granger on Wednesday received the “Jungle Warrior Machete” from the Brazilian Army’s Jungle Warfare Training Centre (CIGS).
The presentation was done by Colonel Nilton de Figueiredo Lampert, the Commanding Officer of the CIGS at State House.
According to the Ministry of the Presidency, Colonel Emerson Deni da Silva, Brazilian Military Attaché to Guyana, said the president has received the machete, bearing the number 353, by virtue of being trained at the CIGS in 1969.
“The Jungle Warriors formed by CIGS, since its inception in 1966, represent a specialised group in Jungle Operations. Until 2003, the materialisation of its symbol of one of its main work instruments was missing, a personalised machete. In the celebration of the 40th years of creation of the CIGS, in 2004, it has been developed as the project “Jungle Warrior Machete,”” Deni da Silva was quoted as saying in a ministry statement on Wednesday.
A head of a jaguar in metal is at the extremity of the handle towards the main cut, representing the animal symbol of jungle war, Deni da Silva explained, and he also noted that the handle is made of wood and it is inlayed on both sides of its bolster with the badge of the Specialist of Jungle Operations.
In accepting the machete, the ministry said, President Granger called the presentation more than a mark of friendship between Guyana and Brazil.
“I want to thank the Brazilian Army for its support to the Guyana Defence Force. Today is more than a mark of friendship between Guyana and Brazil. It is more of a demonstration of the type of cooperation that should exist on the continent. This is the way it should be. So, this is an important visit and a reaffirmation of the ties not just between Guyana and Brazil but also the two Militaries and the two Jungle Warfare Schools, the CIGS and the Jungle and Amphibious Training School in Guyana,” he was quoted as saying.
Accompanying Colonel de Figueiredo Lampert and Colonel Deni da Silva were Colonel Claudio Carneiro Mardine from the Landing Operations Command, Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana Lineu Pupo de Paula and Paulo Eduardo Borda de Carvalho Silos, Minister’s Counselor of the Brazilian Embassy.
