LEAD discussions ongoing, US Confident of progress

LEAD discussions ongoing, US Confident of progress

The re-engagement process on the Leadership and Democracy Project between the Government of Guyana and the United States Embassy is ongoing and both sides are expressing confidence that they are seeing progress.

On Thursday, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon said the talks were progressing well and were being done in an atmosphere of good faith.  “We continue to meet and I want to establish that the engagement is an engagement that is being undertaken by both sides in good faith”, he told a news conference.

U.S Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt on Friday told media operatives gathered at a journalism training workshop that the talks were progressing in a productive manner. He said three meetings have already been held on the LEAD project since the talks began and those meetings have all been very productive and in-depth.

The Government of Guyana had objected to the democracy project from its inception and when the US Embassy continued to move ahead with the project, the Guyana Government revoked the work permit and extension of stay  status of the project’s head, Glenn Bradbury.

Bradbury remains in Guyana despite the revocation by the Government of Guyana. The Guyana government has never explained under which law it chose revoked the official’s work permit. The United States Embassy is confident that the issue will be addressed.

The US Embassy has explained that the LEAD programme was initially proposed in October, 2012 to benefit the Government and people of Guyana. The Embassy said its goals include the promotion of understanding and consensus building within the National Assembly, civic education for local government elections, and greater civic engagement among women and youth.

The embassy said the project was developed through extensive consultations with stakeholders including the Government of Guyana.

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