Mexican First Lady donates equipment to help digitize archives in SVG

The wife of the President of Mexico, First Lady Beatriz Gutierrez Muller has donated a set of equipment for the digitisation of the archives in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The Fist Lady who was paying a brief official visit to SVG, on Wednesday, April 19, handed over the equipment from the United Mexican States to the National Archives at a ceremony held at the National Public Library.

Joining First Lady Muller were Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development and Cooperation, Laura Elena Carillo Cubillas; Social, Human and Sustainable Development Coordinator Jose Alfredo Galvn Corono; and Ambassador of Mexico to St. Vincent and the Grenadines Luis Manuel Lopez Moreno.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves; Minister of Foreign Affairs Keisal Peters; Minister of Education, Curtis King; Chief Education Officer Kay Martin-Jack; Director of Libraries Michelle King-Campbell and other representatives from the government were also in attendance at the ceremony.

Cubillas said that the United Mexican States have already made some donations to SVG, noting that Mexico donated ventilators in 2021 during the COVID-19 outbreak and followed that up in 2022 with a donation of vaccines.

“And this is a way that we want to ensure that you know that we care about what happens here, what happens in the region, but especially in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

She added that the presence of the First Lady made the occasion historical because there never has been such a high ranking person from Mexico to visit SVG.

She explained that First Lady Muller was a special envoy from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

“Let me tell you something. Our President always says when someone has to be abroad representing me in a matter at something protocol or administrative, he will send someone from the Cabinet, but when he wants to be represented abroad with friends, with countries that he cares dearly for, then that’s when he sends Dr Beatrice Gutierrez Muller, so that’s why she is here.”

Cubillas said that this donation is part of a project that First Lady Muller graciously endorses in Mexico, a project of the recovery of historical archives in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“She personally is delivering this because she’s teaching us- at least in Mexico and she’s trying to do this all over Latin America and the Caribbean, that we should cherish our past. We should cherish our national treasures and especially we need to cherish our regional identity. It makes us stronger; and one way to make it very real and concrete is the bringing of this scanner,” Cubillas said, referring to the equipment that was donated.

“This right there is not just the printer, is not just the copier, it’s a very special piece of equipment that helps us preserve our historical documents … so this donation we think it’s a very clear way to say that we can work together to preserve our heritage and our shared history.”