House Dems meet with Guyana president

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Saturday that he hosted a meeting in Washington, D.C. on Thursday with Guyanese President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and a delegation of government officials from Guyana.

Jeffries – who represents the 8th Congressional District, encompassing parts of Brooklyn and Queens — said that several leading congressional members with expertise in foreign affairs, finance, security and other “critical issues” to the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean-American community in Brooklyn and across the United States also participated in the meeting.

They included: Maxine Waters, Ranking Member, Committee on Financial Services; Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member, Foreign Affairs Committee; Member, Committee on Financial Services; Steven Horsford, Chair, Congressional Black Caucus; Member, Financial Services Committee; Member, Armed Services Committee, whose mother hails from Trinidad and Tobago; Yvette D. Clarke, First Vice Chair, Congressional Black Caucus; Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce; Member, Committee on Homeland Security, whose parents hail from Jamaica; Stacey Plaskett, Ranking Member, Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government; Member, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, who hails from the US Virgin Islands.

“During the meeting, we discussed several critical issues, including regional and energy security, the climate crisis and the importance of an inclusive society in Guyana that involved full economic participation and civic engagement by Guyanese-Africans and Guyanese-Indians,” Jeffries said.

“We also discussed electoral reform, strengthening democratic institutions and the need to bolster access to banking and financial services in the Caribbean region,” he added.

Jeffries said that, in the next few weeks, a delegation of House Members, included him, will meet with leaders of the Guyanese opposition party “to continue our dialogue about the opportunities and challenges confronting the Republic of Guyana and other nations within the African Diaspora in the Western Hemisphere.

“We will continue to encourage the government and the opposition to work together to ensure that all Guyanese citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit from the economic growth underway in the South American nation,” added Jeffries of Guyana, which is also a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member-state.