Charles: TT has surrendered regional leadership

On Saturday Barbados’ PM Mia Mottley indicated that her country would not attend tomorrow’s meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, since some CARICOM leaders were not invited.

We have received unconfirmed reports that TT was not invited.

Her position however highlights TT’s diplomatic isolation, the surrender of our leadership role within CARICOM and the need for countries such as Barbados to pursue our interests in the global arena.

We are literally on CARICOM’s B Team, with Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and even St Vincent  and the Grenadines (now holding a non-permanent seat on the Security Council) as the presumptive CARICOM leaders.

“It is an axiom of diplomacy that once a country is not seated at the table participating in  discussions then it may very well find itself on the menu,” says MP Charles who served as this country’s UN ambassador.

Currently, we are on the menu in global diplomacy. Whether it be our position on global financial watch lists, or the recipient of endless negative travel advisories, or continual downgrades by lending agencies, or multilateral, financial support for hosting Venezuelan refugees, or significant reductions in Foreign Direct Investments, or reduced tourist arrivals; we are in an unenviable position within CARICOM and in this hemisphere.

Hapless Keith Rowley and his woefully incompetent Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister, Dennis Moses and a totally demoralised foreign ministry are not up to the task of promoting TT’s interests globally.

While we pursue  “dotish” ambitions to set up a mission in Qatar, we are leaving the Americans, Brazilians and others to reap the rewards of the energy bonanza in Guyana. We should be right there in Georgetown implementing a well thought out Guyanese policy. Instead we are “pussy footing” with the establishment of that most important mission.

Where are the comprehensive and well thought out initiatives to help develop Guyana’s energy sector to the mutual benefit of both countries. Where is the think tank? Which of our energy experts are doing the brain work? What are the short, medium- and long-term policies?

We have literally surrendered our position as the energy capital of the region to Guyana. Jamaica is being positioned by the US as a regional energy hub. Meanwhile TT has closed down its refinery which it is now struggling to reopen.

So no one is managing our image abroad. T&T was named the World’s 12th most dangerous country, by Business Insider. We rank alongside countries like Venezuela, Yemen, Jamaica and Columbia for the highest crime rates in the world.

Last year Jamaica’s economy grew by 2%. Grenada by 4.5%. St Vincent and the Grenadines by 2%.

Ours was 0.9%.

Lord have mercy.  

When Mrs Kamla Persad Bissessar was Prime Minister our country was the envy of the World. Chinese President Xi Jinping, months after being appointed, made us his first country to be visited in the western hemisphere, even before the US.

The US Vice President Biden visited us soon after.

We co-sponsored UN resolutions on international terrorism.

Recently TT, while pursuing the position of presidency of the UNGA, was one of 64 out of 193 which did not pay its mandatory annual contribution to the United Nations regular budget and working capital fund for 2019. Hopefully this has been rectified given the UNC’s condemnation in Parliament.

It is now clear that Rowley, Young, Al Rawi and Robinson-Regis are ill serving the needs of our country. They are essentially catalysts in our inexorable decline to failed state status.

The time has reached for them to do the honorable thing, and consistent with the patriotic requirement given our depressing circumstances – immediately resign and call elections now.