Above: Georgetown, Guyana

By the Caribbean Journal

A team of observers from the Organization of American States has arrived in Guyana ahead of the country’s planned general elections.

The OAS team began its final deployment in Georgetown, the country’s capital, on Tuesday, ahead of the May 11 vote.

The delegation is being led by former Foreign Minister of Belize Lisa Shoman, with a team of 23 observers from 13 countries including Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.

The first members of the mission arrived in Guyana on May 2, after a preliminary visit in the middle of last month.

“The Mission will focus its observation on electoral organization, electoral-political financing and the equal participation of men and women in the electoral process,” the OAS said in a statement. “It will also gather information about the status of the recommendations made in the last OAS/EOM in 2011.”