Venezuela & Guinea-Bissau Celebrate 17 Years of Diplomacy, Launch Bilateral Commission

Given the turmoil of the current global geopolitical landscape, the Global South must demonstrate that “it can build a more egalitarian world under cooperation, solidarity and complementarity,” said the foreign minister of Venezuela, Yván Gil, during the Venezuela—Guinea-Bissau Joint Commission this Tuesday.

The launching ceremony of the joint commission between the two countries took place in the Casa Amarilla, headquarters of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Venezuela, with the presence of Guinea Bissau’s vice prime minister of interior and public order, Soares Sambú, and the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil, alongside delegates from both nations.

During his speech, the Venezuelan foreign minister, on behalf of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, welcomed the Guinea-Bissau delegation.

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President Maduro said that “the central axis of cooperation between the two countries must be south–south and take into account complementarity. It is necessary to resume the path towards dialogue between regional organizations with Africa.”

The countries signed 22 agreements regarding cooperation and exchange visits, such as the one made by the president of Guinea-Bissau on November 2 and 3, 2022.

Good diplomatic ties
Gil emphasized Venezuela and Guinea-Bissau’s strong diplomatic relations. “17 years ago, on April 6, diplomatic relations were established and formalized in a context under the leadership, first of Hugo Chávez, and now with President Maduro, with whom we are walking towards the strengthening of diplomatic relations between our country and motherland Africa, with a view to building a multicentric and multipolar world.”

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Both countries have made progress in education, with postgraduate studies in health sciences, “with which we will have health professionals from that country, to continue training, and we continue to advance in culture, communication, education, housing, air and sea transport, among other areas, to push the development of both peoples,” said Gil.

With this meeting, the foreign minister added, “we aspire that this Joint Commission is a step to establish a structure that yields concrete results for both peoples. To this end, we have ample potential in Guinea-Bissau in terms of agriculture, as well as a privileged position for maritime connectivity.”

He stressed that Venezuela has always received the support of Guinea-Bissau in the face of recurrent neocolonial aggression: “we fight the same evils and we have common enemies, the imperial and neocolonial centers, for this reason, we are committed to South—South [cooperation].”

Joint commission goal: materialize agreements
For his part, the vice prime minister of the interior and public order of Guinea-Bissau, Soares Sambú, commented during his speech that “cooperation must materialize and unite us in the potential we have. Concrete actions are imperative in view of the established agreements.”

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Sambú stated that his country is willing to enter into more agreements, in addition to continuing with the implementation of those already signed.

He stressed that South–South cooperation is now gaining traction because it takes maximum advantage of available potential, especially in a context in which there is less and less support for development, since wealthy countries face economic uncertainty.

Sambú also said that it is necessary to identify specific project actions that can contribute to sustaining these agreements.

“The international diplomatic political framework is presented today more than ever in a favorable light,” said Soares Sambú. In addition, he ratified the solidarity of Guinea-Bissau with the “sister Republic of Venezuela, affirming sovereignty in the face of constant external aggression.”

Visit
The delegation from the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, headed by Soares Sambú, arrived in Venezuela on Monday to launch the joint commission.

The officials and the delegation of that country were received at the Simón Bolívar International Airport, in La Guaira, by the vice minister for Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yuri Pimentel.

Mutual cooperation
In November 2022, the presidents Nicolás Maduro and Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who was on an official visit in Caracas, held a meeting with the purpose of strengthening strategic cooperation between Venezuela and Guinea-Bissau.

The current visit is part of the 17th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Guinea-Bissau, which began under the mandate of Commander Hugo Chávez on April 6, 2006.

By 2008, both countries signed the Cooperation Framework Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding to establish consultation mechanisms.

(Últimas Noticias) by Janna Corredor

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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