Dear Editor,
Guyana is now on track for extensive development since the discovery of billions of dollars’ worth of oil. Developers will be attracted to the South American country to check avenues to explore in order to invest. Therefore it is extremely important that the government places qualified and knowledgeable persons in key positions especially in diplomatic positions. A good diplomat sells your country.
I learnt with great regret that Dr. Riyad Insanally, the Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative will be replaced. Dr. Insanally is a career diplomat and joined the Foreign Service in 1990. Prior to the posting he was the OAS Representative in Trinidad and Tobago where I first met him during the summit of the Americas in April 2009. He was also a Senior Trade Advisor at the Guyana High Commission in London and Commercial Representative of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, representing Guyana’s sugar interests in Europe. He also served as political adviser to the first two Secretaries General of the Association of Caribbean States. He was a Senior Foreign Service Officer specializing in multilateral diplomacy and regional integration issues. Ambassador Insanally studied Modern Languages and Latin American Studies and holds MA and MPhil degrees from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from Harvard University. He speaks French and Spanish fluently.
Dr. Insanally was posted to Washington since September 16, 2016 and has been serving his country well. On the other hand his reported successor is 78 year old Sam Hinds who has absolutely no experience as a diplomat. He however served as Prime Minister and a short period as President for a total of 23 years. He has been described as a model leader by well-known letter writer in the newspapers Vishnu Bisram. Be that as it may, I do not think that he is more qualified than Dr. Insanally to be the Washington-based diplomatic representative.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is still without a High Commissioner since Hamley Case departed the post 18 months ago. It is rumoured in London that PPP stalwart and former Foreign Minister Clement Rohee is tipped to be the new High Commissioner. However no one in Georgetown seems to know if Rohee will get the nod for the diplomatic posting. Like Sam Hinds, Rohee has no diplomatic experience but is a faithful PPP/C member and held ministerial positions for a number of years. Besides London, there are a few other ambassadorial openings in Brazil, South Africa, China and Kuwait and a High Commissioner for Canada.
Sincerely,
Oscar Ramjeet
