NEW YORK, NY, December 19, 2007: The Permanent Mission of St. Vincent and the Grenadines assumed the Chair of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) on December 1, 2007 for the duration of the month of December.

GRULAC is a 33-member United Nations Body, whose members include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Ambassador Camillo M. Gonsalves, acting in his capacity as Chairman of GRULAC, convened a meeting of the group on December 19, 2007 to discuss issues of particular relevance to GRULAC members at the end of the year, and to discuss certain important matters that may arise early in the New Year. The Group, under Ambassador Gonsalves' Chairmanship, arrived at a consensus on a number of representational and strategic matters that impact GRULAC's presence at the United Nations.

Ambassador Gonsalves has also been tasked with being the Group spokesperson, seeking consensus on various common GRULAC positions, and composing speeches with other member states.

As Chair of the Group for December, the Staff of the Permanent Mission of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been busy meeting its obligations to fellow GRULAC Member-States. The Permanent Mission of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has effectively become the "GRULAC Secretariat" for the month, and has been charged with disseminating information throughout the Group. Despite the Permanent Mission's small staff, the members of GRULAC were extremely complimentary of the efficiency of the administrative arrangements put in place during St. Vincent and the Grenadines' tenure.

The chairmanship of GRLAC rotates among its members on a monthly basis.