Reaffirming the commitment to South South cooperation
The three-month-old Dr. Godwin Friday administration has been very busy over the last month in diplomatic engagements around the world.The Prime Minister, fresh from the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting which was high on promises but so far low on delivery, had encountered the first tightrope he has had to cross over.
Upon his return, the local media zoned in on what positions Dr. Friday held regarding issues such as the bombing of fishermen in our territorial waters and on issues relative to Cuba and US deportees. His answers were always guarded, even evasive.
Meanwhile in early March, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fitzgerald Bramble, headed to the UK for a Commonwealth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in London, along with engagement in the UK-Caribbean Forum, focusing on sustainable financing, trade, and bilateral ties.
Not to be outdone, Deputy Prime Minister St Clair Leacock, most recently headed a delegation that included Minister of Social Welfare, Shevern John, and Junior Education Minister, Senator Lavern King, on a visit to Taiwan. Before he left on that visit the National Security Minister had stated his intention to ask the Government of Taiwan for vehicles for the police; one suspects, though, that this Asian trip was more than that.
Since the New Democratic Party had publicly stated its intention to break diplomatic from Taiwan in preference to the People’s Republic of China, the new government would, naturally, have wanted to quickly demonstrate some measure of allegiance to Taiwan.The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security has promised to report to the nation on that trip this Wednesday, March 25.
While some have pronounced that, given the foregoing, it should have been either the Prime Minister or the Minister of Foreign Affairs engaging with the Taiwanese on their soil for what has been the NDP government’s first visit since taking office, Dr. Friday chose instead to engage with the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Colombia.
Attendance at this CELAC AFRICA Summit sends a strong signal by the Friday-led Administration to our wider neighbours in Latin America of the importance being placed on strengthening relations with the region. It was the prime minister’s first meeting with this organization in which his predecessor, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, had held the Pro Tempore Chairmanship during 2023, and the new Prime Minister would no doubt, have been eager to demonstrate this country’s intention to continue meaningful engagement within this hemispheric body.
We are pleased that our prime minister in his maiden presentation at CELAC was strongly in support of what he termed “two urgent matters in our hemisphere”. Notably, the Vincentian Prime Minister called for an end to the embargo against Cuba and expressed support for Haiti which has been struggling with gang warfare since the murder of its President Jovenel Moise in 2021. He expressed solidarity with the Government and people of Haiti as they work toward political, economic, and social stability.
On the issue of Cuba, Dr Friday reaffirmed the need for “the economic, commercial and financial embargo which continues to impose severe hardship on the Cuban people” to be lifted. He also rejected the extraterritorial measures that obstruct Cuba’s access to international financial transactions, while noting that its continued designation as a state sponsor of terrorism further restricts its development.
It was a good maiden attendance for the Vincentian prime minister who also affirmed that as partners committed to sovereignty and international law, CELAC and Africa “must stand together in calling for the immediate removal of these anti-development measures” which are indeed tests of the commitment to justice, solidarity and South-South cooperation.
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