Venezuela and Guinea-Bissau Sign Fresh Bilateral Agreements

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signed a series of agreements with the prime minister of Guinea-Bissau on Monday as part of an effort to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

presidentes

Caracas, April 5, 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signed a series of agreements with the prime minister of Guinea-Bissau on Monday as part of an effort to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. 

“The peoples of Africa are our brothers, and they will always have a friend here,” declared Maduro, welcoming the state delegation headed by Bissau-Guinean Prime Minister Carlos Correia. 

During a special reception in Miraflores, the two heads of state signed three new agreements in health, communications, education, and defense, which will last until 2030. 

Under the new accords, the Caracas-based, pan-Latin American television network teleSUR will now begin broadcasting in the African nation. 

Also included among the deals is a commitment to expand the number of Bissau-Guinean doctors being trained in Venezuela, of which there are currently 29.          

Correia, for his part, lauded the deepening of bilateral ties and pledged his nation’s solidarity with Venezuela in the face of the renewal of sanctions by the US government in March. 

“We want to tell you, Mr. President [Maduro]…that Venezuela has our absolute support…and we are with Venezuela in her struggle against those who seek to attack her,” he vowed. 

Venezuela and Guinea-Bissau initiated diplomatic relations in 2006 as part of an effort by then president Hugo Chavez to establish closer bonds between the two continents, which saw the opening of embassies in scores of African countries.