By Marion Ali, LoveFM

“Reflexiones de el Caribe”, a piece written by Venezuela’s new Ambassador to Belize, Yoel Perez Marcano, was released today to coincide with that country’s 202nd anniversary of Independence.  It speaks of how Venezuela, which was the first of the South American republics to formally break away from Spain, blends in with the Caribbean and its role in the region.  The author, Ambassador Marcano, told Love News that the piece came about through personal contributions he made in a local newspaper and while he served as ambassador in other parts of the Caribbean.

Joel Perez Marcano

“President Maduro was Minister of Foreign Affairs in my country; in 2008 he called me in the possibility to support the development of international relations with Caribbean.  I then thought of the possibility to write my experience; in Venezuela there is this newspaper, the name is Aporrea.  The newspaper assessed the possibility of publicizing my article on the international politics and I started to write and send this contribution on international relations, international politics and the national situation in Venezuela.  This story is in my book, Reflexiones de el Caribe.”

President of UB, Dr. Caray Fraser, in receiving the book from Ambassador Marcano at the University of Belize’s Regional Language Centre in Belmopan, said that it is in some ways a symbol of the ongoing search for engagement among the states in the Americas.

Dr. Caray Fraser, President, UB

“The struggle for political independence created new nations as the Spanish empire disintegrated in the early 19th century and the same experience replicated as the British withdrew from the Caribbean in the latter part of the 20th century.  It is that context of creating variable and well integrated post-colonial states that continue to be a challenge for many countries in the Caribbean region for which Venezuela is included.  For all Caribbean states, it is imperative to recognize that the viability of our individual countries will ultimately depend on the pursuit of effective strategies of regional integration and the development of the notion that shared sovereignty will be part of that effective strategy of social transformation.  It is interesting that in the wake of the global crisis that the crisis are both in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean have occurred in the southern parts of those respective regions.  That similarity raises the question about the ways in which the Caribbean reflects a reality that we still need to grapple with.”

Students of the UB Belmopan campus’s Regional Language Program received copies of the book, autographed by Ambassador Marcano.  The book is expected to assist them in better understanding how one country that is geographically not a part of the Caribbean, can play an integral role in shaping the region.  MA4LN

For more on this story go to:

http://www.lovefm.com/local_news.php?item=2183