Brussels envoy identified and announcement expected shortly, Todd says – President still mulling list on other posts

An ambassador to Belgium has been identified, even as President Irfaan Ali actively reviews appointments for envoys to Brazil and India, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd has said.

“Someone has been identified for Brussels and the government has sent for Agrément to Brussels,” Todd told the Stabroek News yesterday when contacted.

“It is not to be taken that one is a priority over the other, because the President is still deliberating on the list before him for Brazil, India... An announcement will be made in the coming weeks,” he added.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the government is anticipating positive word from Brussels on the appointment dispatched two weeks ago.

Back in January, Todd had told this newspaper that appointments were being addressed. This came amid concerns that at a time when Guyana said it was using diplomacy to lobby for support globally in the border controversy, there were a number of vacant posts, New Delhi being a prime example.

“We have an acting Senior Foreign Service Officer (in Brasilia) but we will be appointing an ambassador shortly. It has been in the pipeline with (appointments for) other posts…” the Foreign Affairs Minister had said.

At present, Guyana has no ambassador or highlevel representative in India, Brazil, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Belgium, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates or Suriname. There had not been a Guyana ambassador in Venezuela for some time, but ambassadordesignate Dr Richard Van

West-Charles presented his credentials last month.

It also has been pointed out that no minister from Guyana has attended the ministerial meetings of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States, a collection of 79 developing nations, which was created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. It was once led by Guyana on a shared platform with the European Union.

Todd informed that in Trinidad & Tobago, a Senior Foreign Service Officer is currently acting as the Consul General, but this country is making moves for a substantive appointment. He said that the United Kingdom representative is also responsible for Russia, and that for the others, his ministry was working to ensure vacant posts are filled and substantive appointments made where necessary.

He said President Ali would “soon” name the ambassador to Brazil and the nation should not worry about the issue as it was being actively addressed.

Columnist Wazim Mowla, a specialist on Caribbean public policy, foreign affairs, and the region’s integration has posited that “while not always obvious, foreign policy is a crucial element of sustainable economic development” and that Guyana should set itself two objectives: 1) building out a public diplomacy strategy, and 2), working with the private sector to play a more active role in foreign policy.

One observer had pointed out, “Small wonder then that the Caribbean Heads in particular, seem at sea as regards the issues, their history, the Geneva Agreement, Venezuela’s related obligations and Guyana’s rights”, stressing the need for fully equipped foreign service offices both locally and globally.

Last June, President Ali had defended Guyana’s foreign policy agenda saying that it continues to be very active and a number of programmes implemented have arisen from the relationships forged during engagements with over 60 world leaders.

Ali was at the time engaging in what he described as frontally addressing questions from the opposition which had been submitted to Parlia-ment, regarding his government’s foreign policy programme.

“These things [foreign policy gains] don’t come by accident. These things come by strong work. When I leave this country to attend meetings and to represent Guyana, its round-the-clock work. And I go with the same conditions that any public servants go on. The same allowance, the president don’t get no special allowance,” Ali informed.

“So, I find it disgusting for someone not to recognise the gains that we are making. But the results are there. As I am speaking to you now, we have major investors, global investors, who are talking to us on hydropower, agro-chemical, fertilizer plant, cement plant. This is the type of work we’re doing, positioning Guyana,” he asserted.

The President said that his government’s focus on its international agenda has been a priority as it believes that diplomacy and strong bilateral relations across the globe are part of ensuring Guyana’s position on global issues is understood and that support for Guyana is overwhelming.