The existing cordial bilateral ties between the Republic of The Gambia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will continue to be strengthened and consolidated, according to the Venezuelan ambassador to The Gambia, Lourdes Pirez Martinez during a recent interview with the Daily Observer.

This, according to her will be achieved based on the objectives and action plan derived from the Nuevo Esparto Declaration in the framework of the second Africa-South America Summit (ASA) held in Caracas, Venezuela, in September 2009. “This action plan achieved in coordination with all the African countries ratifies our commitments to reach the integration of our peoples and countries based in respect to our sovereignty, solidarity, humanism and social justice, having as goals for the effective eradication of poverty,” she explained, and continued:

“In this year, we are going to emphasise our efforts in policies, projects and programmes based mainly in the health and agriculture sectors.” She revealed that based on the framework of health cooperation between the two countries, 17 Gambian children with heart cardiopathies will be travelling to Venezuela very soon to receive treatment at the Cardiologic Hospital for Children, known as Gilberto Rodriguez Ochoa.

“It is expected that a presidential flight will transport these children from Banjul to Caracas so as to ease their long trip between Africa and America. This decision was taken by President Hugo Chavez after he observed that the nine Gambian children and their representatives who travelled to Venezuela in 2009 to receive treatment had to spend too many hours transiting many airports and under uncomfortable conditions,” the Venezuelan ambassador said.

She added: “For that reason, and in order to avoid such hectic travel, President Chavez ordered the use of the presidential airplane to transport all those children with cardiopathies from many American countries and The Gambia who are to receive medical treatment or to undergo surgery.”  The objective of this move, Ambassador Martinez further explained, is to enable those children with such complicated diseases to have their health restored so as to achieve their goals in life. “Our president has the intention to increase every year the number of African children to benefit from this programme including The Gambia,” she stated.

She also hinted that diverse training programmes in agriculture, energy, cultural heritage management and other areas will be continued and consolidated. She recalled that since 2008, Gambian students have travelled to many states in Venezuela to receive higher education and training in areas such as medicine, informatics, agriculture, ICT, sports, engineering, amongst others. She disclosed that almost 200 scholarships and training programmes have been offered to Gambians in 2008 and 2009, noting that most of these beneficiaries have received additional classes in Spanish language. “The last educational exchange took place on August 2009, when four Gambian engineers travelled to Venezuela to attend three months training related to the energy sector,” she recalled, assuring that in 2010, they will continue working to ensure that more Gambians become beneficiaries of educational programmes.

The programme “Sponsor one school in Africa” (in which Old Jeshwang Simon Bolivar Lower School is a beneficiary), according to her, is expected to be expanded to the whole country. Ambassador Martinez also revealed that the Second “Taste of Venezuelan Cinema” will be presented as part of the Banjul Venezuelan Embassy activities for 2010, adding that the “Day of Africa” will be also celebrated. She indicated that her embassy plans to conduct series of activities as part of the celebrations of the bicentenary of the signing of the Act of Independence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from the Kingdom of Spain.

She concluded by saying that her country together with many other American countries are poised to implement successful projects based on South-South Cooperation. Such projects, she indicated include the University of the South, Bank of the South, amongst others, noting that it is based on the framework of the commitments assumed in the second Africa-South America Summit.