While most CARICOM Leaders are expected to stay away from the Summit of the Americas, President Irfaan Ali will be leading a Guyana delegation to the California summit which begins on Wednesday.

The President will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud and Guyana’s Ambassador to CARICOM, George Talbot.

First Lady Arya Ali will also accompany the President on the trip.

In a statement this morning, the President’s Office said that through the summit, leaders from the United States, North, Central and South America and the Caribbean are expected to explore economic relationships and common goals for the Western Hemisphere.

Discussions will cover various topics including democracy, clean energy and digital transformation.

The issues of climate change, migration, recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, building resilience, and boosting economic growth will also form part of the discussions.

At the last Summit, leaders committed to fighting the corruption that undermines democratic governance.

This is the first time that the US is hosting the summit in more than two decades. The very first Summit of the Americas was hosted in the US back in 1994.

A number of Caribbean and Latin American leaders have indicated that they will stay away from the Summit in opposition to the US Government’s shutting out of Venezuela and Cuba from the meetings.

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