Above: Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro made his first official visit to Guyana on Saturday, vowing to deepen cooperation between the South American neighbours.

Maduro held talks with his Guyanese counterpart, Donald Ramotar, saying the meeting had yielded progress in the areas of energy, economy, culture and others.

“We have decided to strengthen the bilateral cooperation of our countries in all these areas,” Maduro said.

Ramotar said the visit was “very productive.”

“We are very pleased with the way these meetings went,” he said.

“We want to have a closer and stronger relationship,” Ramotar said.

Maduro also used the occasion to warn against proposed United States military action in Syria.

“We reject any military attack against Syria,” Maduro said, calling it “criminal.”

“International law has mechanisms to regulate and punish any crime against humanity, if this exists,” he said.

Ramotar, for his part, said it was necessary for the Untied Nations to conclue its investigations into alleged chemical weapons use by the Syrian government.

“Our position is that the UN should have time to complete their research and do their job,” he said.