No over arching philosophy guiding our foreign policy

After more than six months in office this government has no discernible over aching philosophy which informs our foreign policy. Our foreign missions are on auto pilot. Most are run by junior foreign service officers many of whom are 3 year contract International Relations Officers who, while doing their best, lack vital experience, security of tenure and a foreign policy framework.

“It demonstrates that this government was totally unprepared for governance in September last,” says Rodney Charles, UNC’s shadow minister of Foreign Affairs, former UN Ambassador and MP for Naparima.

At present we have no Ambassadors or High Commissioners in most missions including London, Abuja, Brussels, Geneva, Pretoria, Washington, Panama and Costa Rica. No one has as yet been appointed to consulates in Miami, New York and Toronto. President Obama visited Cuba and we had no Ambassador present to report on this historic development.

This is unacceptable.

We have failed to mount effective responses to the plethora of international travel bulletins warning visitors about our high crime rates, neither have we dealt responsibly to repair the damage, using every diplomatic option available to us, resulting from the recent murder of Asami Nagakiya a Japanese national during our carnival celebrations.

According to reports Trinidad and Tobago on a per capita basis is among the world’s top suppliers of terrorists fighting alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Reports in the local press last November indicated that upwards of 89 nationals are fighting in Syria. Yet we have no policies in place to discourage nationals from going there by eliminating the push and pull factors, neither do we have plans in place to deal with these battle hardened killers on their return.

Are any involved in the spate of recent murders?

Further Trinidad and Tobago’s voice has been noticeably silent on recent terrorist bombings in Brussels. Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar sent condolences to the people of Brussels the seat of the European Commission which recently granted our citizens the Schengen visa waiver giving our citizens access to all EU states.

Neither have we sought to move with expedition, given the new circumstances of global terror, to ratify a number of international treaties which now require urgent action and not talk.

These include; The UN Security Council Resolution 2178 on Foreign Terrorist Fighters (notwithstanding the fact that Security Council Resolutions are considered binding on Member States); the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism 1999; the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism 2002; the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft 1970; the Protocol Against Acts of Violence at Airports 1998 and the FATF Money Laundering; and the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings 1997.

Foreign policy ought to be an extension on the global arena of our domestic realities and circumstances. We should be seeking to leverage our century old knowledge in oil and gas to assist Guyana and Surinam’s fledgling energy sectors. We should be actively helping Guyana resolve its border dispute with Venezuela and at the same time discussing proposals to share cross border reserves given shortages of oil and gas locally. And we should do so while the major oil companies are distracted by low oil prices.

Today we face challenges of escalating crime, home grown terrorism, foreign exchange shortages, reduced foreign direct investments, increasing our exports, forging new trade relationships, and the urgent imperative for economic diversification.

Our foreign ministry has failed to articulate an agenda that frontally addresses these challenges. On a scale of one to ten with ten being the highest grade; this Foreign Minister and his ministry (and indeed the Dr Keith Rowley administration) rate at best a two in the handling of our foreign affairs portfolio.

Weddings, golf tournaments, retreats, even goat races seem to take priority over our foreign policy obligations.