Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro yesterday exchanged gifts upon their meeting at the VIII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The exchange took place sometime around lunchtime after the arrival of the Heads of State in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the Summit.
A video posted on X (formerly Twitter) showed Ali making the first move and presenting Maduro with a box containing Guyana’s El Dorado XM rum along with what appeared to be a crest depicting the Amerindian headdress which is part of one of Guyana’s national symbols.
After they shook hands, Maduro reciprocated by presenting Ali with a trunk filled with pure products made in Venezuela. The two then shook hands again to shouts of “peace-ando” (a combination of the English word “peace” and the Spanish gerund “-ando”, which is a rough Spanglish translation of “peacing”).
The two presidents, along with the Heads of State of other Latin American and Caribbean states are currently in St Vincent to conduct talks on various topics of importance to their countries and the region at large.
Ali and Maduro met on December 14 last year in St Vincent and the Grenadines under the auspices of CELAC and the Caribbean Community at which time the Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace was agreed upon. This declaration helped to ease tensions between the two countries over Venezuela’s referendum on December 3rd last year to annexe Guyana’s Essequibo.
