Chris Bryant MP was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in June 2009

Foreign Office Vice Minister for the Americas Chris Bryant is visiting Caracas on 7-8 October, during his first trip to South America since he took office earlier this year.

The objectives of his visit are to strengthen the political and economic relations between Venezuela and the UK and to promote the Copenhagen talks on climate change. As part of his programme in Caracas, he will call on various representatives from different sectors of society with whom he will address issues such as global warming, drug trafficking and human rights.

At the beginning of his trip Vice Minister Chris Bryant said:

"On climate change, in the run-up to Copenhagen, countries in a region which is neither the richest nor the poorest are in a good position to talk to both developing and industrialised countries. Both sets of countries need to make their contribution, and come together to take serious action to curb emissions."

Besides Venezuela, the Vice Minister's tour through the Andean region includes visits to Peru and Colombia.

Get to know Chris' agenda of activities in Venezuela and follow what he's been up to.