Canciller de Santa Lucía visita Argentina para fortalecer relaciones bilaterales

Over the weekend, a delegation of three headed by Saint Lucia´s Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia, Honourable Alva Baptiste, left the island for an official visit to the Argentine Republic from August 25-27, 2013.

The central purpose of this visit is to strengthen relations between the two States primarily through South-South Cooperation.

In this regard, a high level meeting will be held between Saint Lucia´s Minister for External Affairs and the Minister for External Affairs of the Argentine Republic, His Excellency Hector Timerman. In addition the Ministers are expected to finalise plans for the opening of an Argentine Embassy in Saint Lucia.

Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1979, Saint Lucia and Argentina share a long standing history of brotherhood and solidarity as members of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean State (CELAC).

It is expected that at the conclusion of the two day visit, Saint Lucia and Argentina will deepen its existing bilateral relations which have been fairly positive over the years.

Latin American and Caribbean States have often been grouped as one, and as Saint Lucia advances its international relations, there is a need to further consolidate relations with other countries of the Southern Hemisphere. For this, it is expected that this will lead to an increase in South-South cooperation.

While in Argentina, the Honourable Alva Baptiste will also hold meetings with the Minister for Agriculture, the Minister for Civil Aviation as well as the National Administration for Civil Aviation, the Minister for Health, the Minister the Environment and Sustainable Development, the Minister for Industry, the Minister for Science and Technology, and the Minister for Tourism to discuss ways for future engagements between the two countries.