WASHINGTON, USA: The Government of Mexico on Tuesday formalized with the Organization of American States (OAS) a program whereby some 542 scholarships will be given to nationals of Latin America and the Caribbean allowing them to study in Mexico. Details of the program, which is worth in excess of US$3.1 million for 2005, will be facilitated through the hemispheric OAS. Officials told Caribbean Net News that scholarships will benefit nationals of 15 OAS member countries for up to a period of five years of study at Mexican institutions of learning. Carried out under the auspices of the Mexican Fund for Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean, the scholarships will be offered to 103 nationals of Paraguay and 103 from Bolivia; 60 from St. Vincent and the Grenadines; 50 from Grenada; 26 from Ecuador; and 20 each from Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Mexico’s Ambassador to the OAS, Jorge Chen, signed the authorizing documents during a signing ceremony at OAS Headquarters and stated that the initiative represents “one more step forward as Mexico seeks to increase its assistance to the states of the Caribbean and Latin America, through the OAS," adding that, “We have always felt that this type of cooperation is not bilateral but rather should be administered through multilateral organizations -- the OAS in this case -- with a view to strengthening it, putting more effort behind it so as to ensure a better future for cooperation in our hemisphere.” Acting Secretary General of the OAS Luigi Einaudi, thanked the government of Mexico for providing “generous assistance” noting that, “Scholarships are an important—and even vital—avenue for development because they help countries to develop cadres of professionals who will be responsible for managing their own countries’ development, mindful of the international environment in which we operate.” Reprinted from Caribbean Net News caribbeannetnews.com