The 30-person mission, which included eleven congressmen from The Democratic

Party, met for approximately one hour in Santa Maria with a Caboverdian delegation

that included Caboverdian Millennium Challenge Account director Laurent Mehdi Brito, a representative from Cabo-Verde's National Assembly, Arnaldo Andrade, the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Foreign Policy Department, Severino Almeida, and the director of the State Protocol Department, Hércules Cruz. In addition to the Caboverdian delegation, the US ambassador in Cabo Verde, Roger Pierce, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation Representative in t he country, Stahis Panagides, also attended the meeting. According to Brito, the meeting was intended to show the delegation Cabo-Verde's experience with t he Millennium Challenge Account program, at a moment in which the authorities responsible for

the project are carrying out "preparatory work for the effective start of activities and the fund's management unit is being set up."

Relations between Cabo Verde and the United States became just a bit stronger this morning, with a meeting lasting approximately one hour in Santa Maria, Sal,

between a delegation of Democratic congressmen from

the US House of Representatives who wanted to get a first-hand look at Cabo-Verde's experience in the management of the funds granted within the framework

of the Millennium Challenge Account. The legislators

say they are "very impressed" with the results obtained

by Cabo Verde.

"The most impressive part of the presentation by MCA-CV director Mehdi Brito was the way Cabo Verde prepared its projects for the fund, which involved the entire population, taking into account all of the aspects of the Caboverdian community to establish the priorities and decide which path to follow," she emphasized, expressing her certainty in the success of the Caboverdian MCA project. Pelosi said she

was honored to be in Cabo-Verde, and reiterated her party's and her country's determination to continue collaborating with Cabo-Verde. "The fact that we came

here with a large delegation from the American Congress shows the great respect we have for Cabo Verde, the hope we have in the success of the Millennium Challenge Account here and our determination to help in every way possible," she affirmed. Questioned regarding the possibility that the islands would be nominated again to receive MCA funds, Pelosi said she had no doubt that Cabo-Verde proved itself a worthy candidate from the very beginning, not only as a result of its strategic position in the world, but above all because of "the determination of its people and its sincerity in the fight against poverty and the improvement in the living conditions of Caboverdians. " According to Arnaldo Andrade, the cooperation between the two countries' legislative bodies was important in the creation of a favorable environment for the accompaniment of the Millennium Challenge Account program. The US delegation stopped in Cabo-Verde on its way back from a tour of Sudan, South Africa, Ghana and Liberia, and left this morning for the United States.

source: A Semana