Local News

Former Grenada Foreign Minister mourns passing of Chavez

 

Chavez & Peter David

St. George’s, March 7, 2013 – Former Grenada Foreign Minister, Peter David, is among those who are mourning the death of Hugo Chavez, the late President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

“President Chavez was the architect of Venezuela’s outreach to the Caribbean and in the country’s moving beyond its traditional Latin base,’’ David said in St. George’s after news broke of the president’s passing.

David met Chavez at various times, including at the United Nations in New York, and said he had “always been in touch’’ with interim President Nicolas Maduro, enquiring about the health of the late president.

 “President Chavez opened up embassies in every OECS country,’’ David told Caribupdate Weekly. “He embarked on programs of assistance in housing, through initiatives like the ALBA and Petrocaribe arrangements, and through the provision of budgetary support.’’

Maduro, a former Venezuelan Foreign Minister, has been an “excellent friend,’’ David said.

If elected Venezuelan President, “I believe Maduro will be good to Grenada as Chavez has been,’’ David said.

“We expect he will continue the programs embarked upon by Chavez, who had endorsed Maduro as his successor.’’

Former Senator Arley Gill said he was fortunate to have met and interacted with Chavez, whom he described as “a visionary leader who genuinely felt that Caribbean and Latin American socio-economic development is achievable through stronger south-south cooperation’’.

The death of President Chavez is a loss for “the poor and downtrodden across the globe,’’ said Gill, a lawyer and former Grenada Minister with responsibility for Information and Culture.

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