(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque is anticipating “the fresh ideas and views” that newly elected President of Guyana, His Excellency David Granger “will bring to assist in advancing the interests of the Community and its people.”

In a letter to President Granger congratulating him and the coalition of A Partnership of National Unity (APNU) + Alliance for Change (AFC) on their victory at the polls, Ambassador LaRocque said they had been given a mandate by the people of Guyana “to lead them towards greater prosperity and to further the development of the country.” The Secretary-General assured the President that CARICOM and its Secretariat stood ready to work with his administration in this task.

President Granger was sworn in as Guyana’s eighth President in a ceremony on Saturday at the National Assembly in Georgetown shortly after being officially declared winner of the elections held last Monday.

The Secretary-General underscored the importance of Guyana to the Community as an original signatory to the Treaty establishing CARICOM and as the headquarters country.