Ramotar to meet with OAS today

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) will today receive President Donald Ramotar.
Ramotar is on a tour to the United States for a series of meetings, which includes top officials of the US State Department in Washington, to discuss a range of issues including economic, investment and security.

President Donald Ramotar

The OAS’ recent engagement with Guyana was the November 28, 2011 general and regional elections.
The OAS Observer group made several recommendations for improvement to future electoral processes.
They said that mechanisms should be incorporated to ensure sufficient time for the planning, testing and troubleshooting of issues that pertain to relocation of polling stations; communications regarding changes in procedures and policies from previous elections; transmission of preliminary and final results; and standardization of the electoral calendar with specific deadlines and milestones.
The mission recommended that additional mechanisms to ensure the security of electoral results are implemented throughout the course of the transfer of electoral materials between the regional offices and GECOM’s central tabulation centre.
These mechanisms should include the confirmation of accredited, escorted and previously identified individuals, the OAS Observers stated.
While in meetings with the US State Department, Ramotar was expected to focus on collaboration between US and Guyana on security in the context of the expanding Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and economic engagements including investments.
After his engagements in the United States, Ramotar will head to Barbados on Sunday for the CARICOM-Mexico Summit on political and economic cooperation.
President Ramotar is being accompanied to the United States by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh,  Natural Resources and the Environment Minister, Robert Persaud, Housing and Water Minister, Irfaan Ali and Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Elisabeth Harper.