Geoffrey da Silva
Guyanese Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry
In office
1999–2001
Guyanese Ambassador to Venezuela
In office
2011–2015
Personal details
NationalityGuyana Guyanese

Geoffrey da Silva is a politician and administrator in Guyana. He was the Guyanese Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry from 1999 to 2001 and later served as head of Guyana Investment (Go-Invest).

Activities in Canada

Da Silva has a degree from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1] He was an employee of the Communist Party of Canada in the 1980s and ran as a Communist candidate at the federal and provincial levels. He also sought election for municipal office in Toronto.[2] The Communist Party was not a strong political force in Canada during this period, and da Silva never came close to winning election.

Da Silva was involved in the Guyanese liberation movement during his time in Canada, seeking the return of democracy in that country.[3] He was Guyana's Consul General to Toronto in the 1990s, and was interviewed by the Toronto Star newspaper following the death of Guyanese president Cheddi Jagan in 1997.[4]

Cabinet Minister

Da Silva was appointed to the cabinet of President Bharrat Jagdeo on 19 November 1999, replacing the ailing Michael Shree Chan as minister of trade, tourism and industry.[5] As a participant in the Fourth Annual Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development in 2000, he argued that Caribbean tourism would need to reflect a growing interest in ecotourism.[6] He also promoted sustainable tourism in the ecologically fragile area of Kaieteur and took part in negotiations toward completing a roadway with Brazil.[7] In February 2000, he led an official delegation that met with Prince Charles of the United Kingdom in his official visit to Guyana.[8]

After 2001

Da Silva left cabinet following the 2001 elections and was appointed as head of Guyana Investment.[9] The following year, the Guyana and Caribbean Political and Cultural Center for Popular Education released an essay arguing that he had significantly improved the agency's ability to attract investors during his time in office.[10]

In 2005, da Silva argued that Guyana was creating jobs by diversifying its economy away from traditional crops such as bauxite and sugar.[11] He helped to organize the Guyana Trade and Investment Exposition in the same year, seeking increased Canadian investment in Guyana.[12] Notwithstanding his leftist political background, da Silva has called for increased private-sector involvement in Guyana's food packaging industry.[13]

In 2011, da Silva was appointed Ambassador to Venezuela[14] He served until 2015.[15]

Electoral record

1988 Canadian federal election: Eglinton—Lawrence
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJoe Volpe20,44651.02+8.04$33,611
Progressive ConservativeTony Abbott12,40030.94−9.35$26,187
New DemocraticVittoria Levi6,24115.57+0.68$16,036
LibertarianSandor L. Hegedus5381.34+0.51$0
CommunistGeoffrey da Silva2080.52+0.02$357
Revolutionary
Workers League		Margaret Manwaring1230.31$776
Commonwealth of CanadaJames Felicioni1220.30$67
Total valid votes 40,078 100.00
Total rejected ballots 565
Turnout 40,643 74.76
Electors on the lists 54,362

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Metro area voters to decide 33 ridings", Toronto Star, 18 November 1988, A9.
  2. ↑ "The choices in Metro", Toronto Star, 7 September 1987, A8. Da Silva was thirty-four years old in 1987.
  3. ↑ "Thousands give murdered Minister and siblings a mournful ‘send-off'", Kaieteur News, 25 April 2006.
  4. ↑ Philip Mascoll, "Thousands of Guyanese mourn chief", Toronto Star, 8 March 1997, A17.
  5. ↑ "President appoints new finance, trade ministers", BBC Monitoring Americas, 19 November 1999; "Guyana's president names new finance, trade ministers", Associated Press Newswires, 19 November 1999, 17:00 report.
  6. ↑ Jeffrey Laign, "Natural bounty", 21 August 2000, p. 13.
  7. ↑ Robert Elliott, "Guyana's Kaieteur Falls a secret ... for now", Reuters News, 4 September 2000, 21:02 report; "Guyana and Brazil to hold talks on rainforest highway", EFE News Service, 11 December 2000.
  8. ↑ "Prince Charles visits poor areas in Guyana", Agence France-Presse, 25 February 2000.
  9. ↑ "Guyana's President Jagdeo unveils new cabinet", EFE News Service, 10 April 2001.
  10. ↑ "PPP - Ten years in government", Guyana and Caribbean Political and Cultural Center for Popular Education, 2002, accessed 18 July 2006.
  11. ↑ "Guyanese government pledges to create more than 5,000 new jobs", BBC Monitoring Americas, 20 November 2005.
  12. ↑ "Guyana to hold trade show in Canada", BBC Monitoring Americas, 17 June 2005.
  13. ↑ Timica Forrester, "CariAir/Roopgroup Packaging Plant fails to meet required standards" Archived 7 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Guyana Chronicle Online, 21 July 2005, accessing 18 July 2006.
  14. ↑ "Geoffrey DaSilva is new ambassador to Venezuela". Guyana Chronicle. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Border controversy… Venezuela halts accreditation of new Guyanese ambassador". Kaieteur News Online. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
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