Newly-appointed Guyanese diplomats on Monday received a directive from President David Granger to make Guyana’s interests and those of its people their first priority, as they take up their new posts.
President David Granger surrounded by the newly-appointed diplomats with Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on the left
Among the national interests is the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy. The President cautioned that no deal, no matter how lucrative, must take precedence over Guyana’s territorial integrity.
President Granger charged the envoys to work to ensure that the Administration’s thrust of security and territorial integrity, economic diplomacy, social cohesion and national unity are advanced. The diplomats recently underwent a week of training and orientation at the Foreign Services Institute at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Head of State said that while he expected that relationships would be built and deals would be brokered between Guyana and the other countries in the hemispheres, Guyanese Ambassadors should not allow these deals, no matter how lucrative, to overshadow the country’s territorial integrity and best interests.
“The border issues are not something that can be bargained away or traded. Sometimes, our friends think that we are always complaining. Sometimes, people have not given us the support we need. Some have stepped up and batted for us, yes, but we have to continue to pursue the goal of completely freeing our territory from Venezuela’s and Suriname’s claims. These two claims are hampering our development. The Foreign Ministry and those diplomats who go abroad must understand that inside out,” President Granger said.
The Head of State continued, “Make sure you have a thorough grounding because sometimes I feel that we have diplomats who don’t understand and who don’t care that they don’t understand the seriousness of the territorial problem. Sometimes, they feel that a bit of rice and a bit of oil and we don’t have to talk about it. Some people just try to dismiss the territorial problem. [They] focus on the rice, focus on the oil, focus on getting another gymnasium, and don’t talk about the issue. No. No. No. We have to put that at the forefront of our diplomacy that our territory is not going to be bargained away. We are not going to sell out ‘one curass’ and you have to believe that.”
Also on the security front, the President noted that we live in an era where several countries across the globe have come under terrorist attack and have been waging wars against drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking and other crimes. The Head of State noted that these were also important areas of concern, since security was a major issue for Guyana.
The Head of State emphasised the responsibility that came with these appointments and said they were not personal nor were they positions for personal gain. Therefore, they should be upheld with the utmost level of commitment and professionalism. “The appointment of an Ambassador or a High Commissioner…is an appointment for hard work. It is not an appointment for party supporters and I would like to feel that our appointments have been based on merit. The Foreign Service is not a place for party patronage. It is a place for hard work and for professionalism,” the President said.
