I join the local and global community in extending sincere condolences to the family of Sir Shridath Ramphal on his death on the 30th August 2024. Sir Shridath belongs to a long list of distinguished Guyanese. His achievements were in the field of international politics and diplomacy. Here his achievements brought him personal renown and made his country a symbol of excellence and a distinguished member of the international community.
In his ninety six (96) years on God’s earth, Sir Shridath rose from the position of a lawyer to become at various times Assistant Attorney General of the West Indies Federation; Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs of Guyana; Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat; and an active participant in Global Affairs serving on all global Commissions dealing with development, the environment and disarmament; and being fully and actively involved in helping both Zimbabwe and South Africa to attain their freedom.
But to my Party and the people of the Caribbean region we remember the seminal role he played in the establishment of the Caribbean Community. His role as the Chief Negotiator in the Regional Negotiation Machinery (RNM) and his Chairmanship of the West Indian Commission are events which this region will not forget.
Sir Shridath was indeed a colossus who bestrode the world of Global politics and etched his name in the annals of diplomacy of the twentieth and twenty first century. Yet the enduring image remains of Sir Shridath, impeccably clad, at the age of ninety two, delivering his speech in defence of the territorial integrity and sovereignty at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Sir Shridath’s career will not be easily understood if we do not take into account his achievement of bringing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs into existence when such an institution never existed before. Guyana’s external relations were conducted by the British Government as we were a colony. As independence approached, the Colonial administration quickly established the Department of External Affairs. At independence, this became the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Prime Minister, Mr. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, assumed the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. He appointed Sir Shridath as Minister of State. It so happened that at this time Guyana was about to host the first Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Non Aligned meeting in the Western Hemisphere. In order to ensure that Sir Shridath could appropriately chair the Foreign Ministers meeting, Burnham appointed him as a full Minister of Foreign Affairs. Sir Shridath’s chairmanship of this conference was brilliant and prudent. The success of this conference has never been questioned.
But as a Foreign Minister, Sir Shridath had to ensure that his Ministry was staffed and trained in the art of diplomacy. In this endeavour, he was assisted by both Prime Minister Burnham and Rashleigh Jackson, the first Permanent Secretary. And while Sir Shridath was fully employed building up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an institution, both Venezuela and Surname were renewing their claims to our territory. Some analysts have argued that the pressure on our territorial integrity and sovereignty was the crucible in which our diplomats acquire particular skills in such critical areas as multilateral diplomacy, the art of negotiations, and the promotion of the nation’s Foreign Policy.
It would be necessary to state here that through a series of speeches and pronouncements by Sir Shridath and Prime Minister Burnham, Guyana arrived at a suitable and appropriate Foreign Ministry. That Foreign Policy was successful enough to ensure the election of Guyana to, among other things, the World Court, serve twice on the Security Council, and allowed our diplomats to make significant contributions to international diplomacy.
Sir Shridath served for some as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and then decided to run for the position of Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat. He was successful primarily because he had distinguished himself in the capacity of Foreign Minister and made himself a brilliant figure of international politics. It is often forgotten that after being the longest serving Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Sir Shridath had decided to seek election as the Secretary General of the United Nations. The outcome of Sir Shridath’s decision to become UNSG is best told in his own words. In canvassing the big powers Sir Shridath had to approach the Soviet delegate to the UN, Mr. Oleg Troyanovsky. This is what the Soviet Ambassador told him:
“Your candidature presents us with a problem; you remind us too much of Hammarskjold, and as you know he was a major problem for Russia. We even at one stage suggested a ‘troika’ in place of a single Secretary General.” Sir Shridath concluded that the Russians were saying they would veto his candidature, but he realized that he could not count on the support of one of the members of the Security Council. He was also not sure that the French and Americans would not veto his candidature.
This did not prevent Sir Shridath from returning to the region and serving in various capacities, especially in the field of education and politics. He was instrumental in negotiating a peaceful outcome to the crisis in Guyana in 1998, and offered prudent advice to the regional politicians in many areas. Indeed, his was a long and distinguished career and life.
