The grand old men of Guyanese diplomacy have both turned 80: Sir Shridath Ramphal last October, with much fanfare, and Rashleigh Jackson, last month, with considerably less public notice. Mr Ramphal was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1967 to 1972 and Foreign Minister proper from 1972 to 1975. Mr Jackson held the position from 1978 to 1990, still our longest serving foreign minister.
As foreign ministers, they lit up the international stage with the force of their intellect and, in the case of Sir Shridath, oratorical brilliance rarely matched in the world’s diplomatic forums. That they still serve the public good in various capacities is testament as much to their intellectual longevity as to the high regard in which they are held.
Both men are credited with inspirational leadership and with a capacity for strategic thinking − well before the phrase entered into vogue − that manoeuvred our little, vulnerable and young nation into a position of international respect, based for the most part on principles of regional unity, non-alignment and Third World solidarity, rejection of apartheid in South Africa, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
Both men are, unsurprisingly, acknowledged experts on the positioning of small states in the bear pit of international relations, where the imperatives of realpolitik often mean that the concerns of small states are routinely subordinated to the will of the powerful or conveniently ignored. For both men were able, in their own way, to exercise leverage at certain critical junctures to ensure that Guyana’s voice was heard.
Apart from their own formidable minds, both Sir Shridath and Mr Jackson, as well as the man who served in between, Fred Wills, another undisputed intellectual giant, were able to count on an impressive array of Guyanese brain power, talent and enterprise, including, in no particular order, Sir John Carter, Sir Lionel Luckhoo, ER Braithwaite, Pat Thompson, Dr Anne Jardim, RB Gajraj, Winifred Gaskin, Sir Edward (EV) Luckhoo, Lloyd Searwar, Harry Dyett, Rudy Insanally, Dr Cedric Grant, Noel Sinclair, Dr Bobby Moore, Cedric Joseph, Rudy Collins, Dr Denis Benn, Dr Barton Scotland, Cheryl Miles, James Matheson and Ronald Austin. These men and women and others distinguished themselves in the field of diplomacy and international relations, though some had already excelled in other spheres. And they contributed to raising Guyana’s global profile through various combinations of personality, charm, wit, tact, command of the English language and other tongues, specialized knowledge and, above all, intellect.
Indeed, through a vertically integrated system, supported by regular intakes of bright, young people, Guyana’s foreign policy was generally held to be in capable hands, so much so that it was widely acknowledged that Guyana punched above its weight in the international arena. Of no small significance, in Mr Jackson’s case, is the fact that he came through the ranks, excelling at every level and serving as Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry before being elevated to ministerial rank.
That many of these people and their skills have been lost to the Grim Reaper is sad, but that is part of the accepted natural order. That others have been lost through emigration is part of the national tragedy.
Sir Shridath himself departed Guyana to assume the post of Commonwealth Secretary General in 1975. By the time Mr Jackson assumed the post of Foreign Minister in 1978, Forbes Burnham’s domestic machinations had already begun to undermine the country’s international standing, with the situation attaining crisis proportions in November 1978, with the Jonestown massacre.
Mr Jackson, however, succeeded in building on Mr Ramphal’s legacy of a largely committed, professional, well educated and highly trained corps of foreign service officers to continue to pursue an activist foreign policy and to maintain a diplomatic firewall that, at the very least, could be said to have contributed to insulating the country from too much unwanted international scrutiny.
If some would choose to pillory Mr Jackson for this, then he should also be given some credit for the role he played, along with then Finance Minister Carl Greenidge, in supporting and implementing President Desmond Hoyte’s strategy in the late 1980s to ensure Guyana’s return to the Western fold and international respectability. The ultimate consequence of this was the historic general election of 1992 and the acceptance of the result by the defeated PNC government, though grudging in some quarters.
There are, of course, always lessons to be learnt from the past and Messrs Ramphal and Jackson have consistently shown themselves willing to share their knowledge and experience in the national interest. Let us then, albeit belatedly, congratulate these two outstanding patriots and public servants, on their milestones and wish them continued good health and productivity.
