Surinam

Mike Pompeo pide a Surinam elegir empresas estadounidenses porque las inversiones de China tendrían «costos políticos»

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Pompeo insta a Surinam a elegir empresas estadounidenses en lugar de chinas

El jefe de la diplomacia de Estados Unidos, Mike Pompeo, inició el jueves una gira por Sudamérica en Surinam, en donde instó al gobierno a asociarse con firmas estadounidenses y no chinas.

Ninguna firma estatal «puede superar la calidad de los productos y servicios de las empresas privadas estadounidenses», dijo Pompeo después de conversar con el recién elegido presidente surinamés, Chan Santokhi.

La parada en Surinam se produce al comienzo de una gira de tres días en la que también visitará Colombia y la frontera amazónica de Brasil, como parte de su campaña para resaltar la devastación económica en la Venezuela de Nicolás Maduro.

«Este es un momento emocionante para el potencial crecimiento económico en Surinam», dijo Pompeo en una conferencia de prensa conjunta con Santokhi en Paramaribo, poco antes de volar a la vecina Guyana.

China también está cortejando a estos dos pequeños países en vías de desarrollo que buscan inversión extranjera para aprovechar al máximo su potencial riqueza petrolera.

«Estados Unidos está ansioso por asociarse para garantizar que sea sostenible, que beneficie a todas las personas y acerque a nuestras naciones», dijo el funcionario estadounidense.

«Hemos visto al Partido Comunista de China invertir en países, y todo parece genial al principio y luego todo se derrumba cuando los costos políticos relacionados con eso se vuelven claros».

El viaje se interpreta en Surinam como un voto de confianza en el nuevo gobierno de Santokhi, elegido en julio para liderar la excolonia holandesa.

En su siguiente parada, Georgetown, capital de Guyana, Pompeo mantendrá conversaciones con miembros del nuevo gobierno del presidente Irfaan Ali, finalmente declarado ganador en agosto después de meses de disputas legales sobre los resultados de las elecciones celebradas en marzo.

La victoria le dio al gobierno de Ali el control de un boom petrolero ampliamente anticipado en el pequeño país de 750.000 habitantes.

El Deber

President Santokhi: “Geen acties tegen Venezuela vanuit Surinaams grondgebied”

President Chan Santokhi heeft na de ontmoeting met de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Mike Pompeo, benadrukt dat het bezoek van de bewindsman geplaatst moet worden in het kader van het versterken van de vriendschapsbanden tussen de beide landen. Op een vraag van de Surinaamse pers ontkent president Santokhi dat er gesproken is over het wel of geen toestemming verlenen aan de Verenigde Staten om vanuit Surinaams grondgebied acties te ondernemen tegen Venezuela.

Santokhi gaf aan op de hoogte te zijn van de uitdagingen in de Bolivariaanse Republiek Venezuela. De Surinaamse regering huldigt het standpunt dat de politieke leiders in dat land de problemen waarmee het land worstelt, intern moeten oplossen. Belangrijke principes van de regering zijn democratie, democratische instituten, goed bestuur, rechtstaat, mensenrechten alsmede het handhaven van vrede en veiligheid.

Suriname zal samen met alle gelijkgerichte partijen bijdragen aan de dialoog om zodoende de democratische rechten van het Venezolaanse volk te helpen waarborgen.

Minister Pompeo die ook aanzat bij de persconferentie gaf aan, dat het Surinaamse volk een duidelijke keuze heeft gemaakt tijdens de laatst gehouden verkiezingen. Het volk heeft onder meer gekozen voor democratie en rechtstaat. De VS zal daarbij alles doen om ons land op die weg te helpen.

Er wordt op Suriname gerekend om waar nodig een baken van hulp en mogelijkheden in de regio te zijn. Suriname is een land met veel mogelijkheden en waar hulp van de VS nodig is zal gekeken worden hoe daar invulling aan wordt gegeven. De goede vriendschapsband zal ten voordele van beide landen moeten zijn, zei minister Pompeo.

Suriname Herald

Black Lives Matter Suriname wil protesteren tijdens bezoek Amerikaanse minister

Een groep burgers onder de naam Black Lives Matter Suriname, wil vandaag bij het Helstone Monument Kerkplein gekleed in het zwart demonstreren. Dit naar aanleiding van het bezoek van de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Michael Pompeo, aan Suriname.

De groep zegt op Facebook solidariteit te willen tonen aan de Black Lives Matter beweging in Amerika. “De schokkende beelden over het politiegeweld in Amerika tegenover gekleurde mensen laat ook ons in Suriname niet onberoerd. Laten we een vuist maken en solidair zijn” luidt de oproep.

Pompeo arriveert vanmiddag rond 13:30 uur in Suriname. Op de Johan Adolf Pengel luchthaven wordt de Amerikaanse bewindsman opgewacht door minister Ramdin, Miriam Mac Intosh, directeur Geopolitieke Aangelegenheden en Internationale Ontwikkelingssamenwerking en de Amerikaanse ambassadeur in Suriname, Karen L. Williams.

Op schema tijdens dit kort bezoek staat een ontmoeting met president Chandrikapersad Santokhi op het Presidentieel Paleis. Tijdens deze ontmoeting zullen ook de ministers van Defensie, Krishnakoemarie Mathoera, en de minister van Justitie en Politie, Kenneth Amoksi, aanwezig zijn.

In verband met de komst van de Amerikaanse minister zal er een wegomlegging plaatsvinden van 13:00 uur tot 19:00 uur. Tevens zal het gedeelte rondom het Onafhankelijkheidsplein, het Kabinet van de President en het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, International Business en Internationale Samenwerking autovrij gehouden worden van 06:00 uur en 19:00 uur.

Waterkant

Suriname: Democratic Success, New Opportunities

“I believe that the United States and Caribbean nations do much more together, can do much more together, and importantly should do much more together.”

–U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, January 22, 2020

Secretary Pompeo will travel to Paramaribo, Suriname, on September 17.  He will meet with Surinamese President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi and key members of his cabinet to discuss opportunities to broaden and deepen ties between the United States and Suriname.

A PARTNERSHIP BASED ON SHARED VALUES AND STRATEGIC INTERESTS

  • The U.S. has had diplomatic relations with Suriname from its independence in 1975.  The bilateral relationship is based on shared democratic values, joint economic interests, and strong people-to-people connections.
  • In May, the people of Suriname voted in free and fair elections, repudiating corruption and signaling they wanted to chart a new path based on transparency, rule of law, and democracy.
  • The United States supports Suriname’s new direction. We are working hard to identify ways to increase trade and investment, deepen our security relationship, and support Suriname’s economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAFEGUARDING THE ECONOMY WHILE PROTECTING RESOURCES

  • The United States stands ready to assist Suriname and its engagement with the International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions as it revitalizes its economy in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and public debt incurred by previous governments.
  • Recent finds of offshore oil promise future income, but Suriname’s leaders and civil society need to establish sustainable models for extracting natural resources transparently and safely, with the proceeds benefiting the Surinamese people. U.S. investment in Suriname’s gold sector, a chief source of income for the country, offers a model.
  • The United States is Suriname’s biggest import partner, with more than 25% of Suriname’s imports coming from America’s businesses.  In 2018, imports from the U.S. totaled around $388 million, and included poultry, food products, chemicals, petroleum products, electronics supplies, excavating machinery, materials handling equipment, and industrial machines.
  • In 2018, Suriname exported around $86 million worth of goods to the United States, mainly fish and shrimp products. Together we are working to strengthen Suriname’s ability to fight corruption to ensure all investors and businesses can compete on an even playing field.

U.S. ASSISTANCE TO FIGHT DRUG TRAFFICKING, COMBAT COVID-19

  • Suriname participates in a number of programs funded by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) in an effort to end the ability of illicit traffickers to use the country as a waypoint for drugs and other contraband.
  • Each year, Mission Paramaribo sends 35 Surinamese officials to training sessions at the International Law Enforcement Academy in El Salvador.  Since 2017, more than 100 police officers have attended these U.S. funded training sessions.  The Department of State purchased equipment to give Suriname the capability to screen travelers on private and commercial flights in the region improving our region’s security.
  • The Department of State has supported training for Suriname’s Port Control Unit, which seized more than 3000 kg of cocaine in 2019, including a 2,300 kg seizure, one of the largest in the country’s history.
  • The U.S. government also committed more than $600,000 towards an anti-money laundering risk assessment, which identifies vulnerabilities in the nation’s anti-money laundering regime and is an essential part of the effort to assist Suriname in meeting regional and international standards.
  • Most recently, the United States, through USAID, provided $2.2 million in regional support to Caribbean nations to address the COVID-19 pandemic.  The funding has advanced infection control efforts in Suriname by multilateral organizations, including UNICEF.

Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo touches down in Guyana

A United States Government aircraft carrying U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo touched down in Guyana shortly after 5 PM on Thursday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

Pompeo was greeted at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Todd and a team from the United States Embassy in Georgetown, including Ambassador Sarah Ann Lynch.

Pompeo, who is here for less than 24 hours, will be escorted directly to State House in Georgetown where he will meet with President Irfaan Ali during “a working dinner.” He is expected to be welcomed at State House with a military salute.

On Friday President Ali and Mr Pompeo will sign an agreement that will permit Guyana to improve its investment enabling environment so that the country can benefit from transparent infrastructure investment that respects Guyana’s sovereignty, a senior state department official said on Wednesday.

The United States and Guyana will also exchange diplomatic notes for joint maritime patrols to interdict narcotics.

According to the State Department, Pompeo will also discuss with Guyana’s leaders the impact on their country of the crisis in Venezuela, which is the hemisphere’s largest refugee and humanitarian crisis.

He is expected to formally meet and hold extended talks with Foreign Minister Todd and Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community Irwin Laroque on Friday too. Pompeo’s visit to Guyana is seen as historic since he is the highest-ranking U.S government official to visit here.

He was also very critical of the recent protracted election process in Guyana, insisting that a government needed to be formed from the figures generated from a national recount exercise. His visit is seen as a celebration that democracy has triumphed.

Pompeo stopped in Suriname on his was here earlier on Thursday and is expected to stop in Brazil when he leaves here and then onto Colombia before returning to Texas.

News Room

Pompeo’s visit not to put pressure on Guyana to approve Exxon’s project – U.S Official

U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Guyana Thursday evening and although his visit coincides with Guyana’s evaluation of U.S oil giant ExxonMobil’s development plan for the Payara oil project offshore, a senior State Department Official is assuring that there will be no effort to put any pressure on Guyana to approve the project.

With the Guyana Government providing little information on the high-level visit political commentators have speculated that among other things the U.S. might be seeking to apply pressure on Guyana to approve the project with ongoing delays in making the final determination.

The US official during a teleconference with reporters on Wednesday said that ExxonMobil’s evaluation will be done on its own merits by the Guyanese experts.

“I mean, this is certainly not an effort to put any pressure on Guyana. I think it’s more a celebration of their great success in this. Obviously we think American companies are really competitive – as I mentioned, the way our companies behave and they’re subject to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and so on. You look at that and then look at what China does. So those kinds of comparisons are made, but they don’t – it’s not so much that we have to make them. It’s they’re demonstrated out there in behaviour,” the official stated.

According to a transcript of the teleconference with the Senior State Department Official on the Secretary’s travel to Guyana and other South American territories, the U.S is trying to help Guyana and Suriname develop the kind of welcoming environments for honest foreign investment.

“That [they] both want and need to further their prosperity and development. And so I think this is a case where everybody is in agreement as to what they want and it’s a question of what do we do to get us from here to there,” the US official noted.

Earlier this week, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat told local media that one of the issues affecting the granting of approval for Payara Field Development Plan is the overlapping of its Well on the existing Liza field.

He said ExxonMobil may have to remark the boundaries for the Payara Field or settle for a Liza Phase Three Project approval.

Upon election to office, the PPP government had moved to re-examine the work done on the Field Development Plan.

There are several environmental issues also barring the approval of the project but ExxonMobil has been pushing for the project’s approval with its recently appointed country Manager Alistair Routledge saying that the company can take its money elsewhere is the plan is not approved.

News Room

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