Brasilian, Mexican and South African Delegations Visit L’Aquila
04/06/2009
Delegations from countries involved in the G8 Summit in July are continuing to conduct preparatory inspections of the Summit venue. The Guardia di Finanza Non-Commissioned Officers' School in Coppito, on the outskirts of L'Aquila, was visited today by representatives of Brasil, Mexico and South Africa, three countries that will be attending the Summit in their capacity as members of the Group of Five (G5), together with China and India.
The three delegations were led, respectively, by Acir Pimenta Madeira Filho, who is a Counselor with the Brazilian Embassy in Italy, by General Roberto Francisco Miranda Moreno, Chief of the Third Section of the Mexican Presidential Staff, and by Losi, Deputy Chief of Ceremonial of the State of South Africa. The delegates were greeted by Agostino Miozzo, Director of the Civil Protection Department's Office for International Relations.
After an initial explanatory briefing, the delegates inspected the areas of the Non-Commissioned Officers' School where the Summit is to be held, including the rooms set aside for the both all-inclusive and bilateral meetings, the working areas, and the rooms earmarked for the delegates' accommodation. The representatives then held individual technical meetings with their various counterparts in the G8 Mission Structure to discuss such aspects as logistics, security, the media, health, transportation, IT and telecommunications in greater detail.
In the early afternoon the delegations were able to pay a visit to the historical centre of L'Aquila, which was so badly damaged in the earthquake -- Via XX Settembre and Piazza del Duomo in particular. Representatives of Libya, Ethiopia, Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and Angola, together with a delegation from the African Union Commission, are expected to visit tomorrow, Friday 5 June.
