Ramphal House recommissioned
The Ramphal House
The Ramphal House

…President Granger hails distinguished service of Sir Shridath

SIR Shridath Ramphal, a distinguished Guyanese Diplomat, was recognised for his stellar contribution to the development and advancement of Guyana’s Foreign Service, when the Ramphal House was recommissioned on Thursday in celebration of the country’s 50th Republic Anniversary.

The multimillion state-of-the-art edifice, which houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Protocol and Consular Services Departments in addition to the Foreign Service Institute, was recommissioned by President David Granger in the presence of Sir Shridath; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings; and members of the Diplomatic Corps. Ramphal House was originally commissioned in 1983 and reconstructed between 2017 and 2019.
“Sir Shridath Ramphal, affectionately called Sonny, is Guyana’s most distinguished global statesman. His stewardship and service to the citizens and homeland, his role as an inveterate integrationist are incontestable,” the Head of State told the distinguished audience.

Forty-eight years after he became Minister of Foreign Affairs (1972), Sir Shridath continues to serve Guyana with distinction. The former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth formed part of the team that successfully argued Guyana’s case before the Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and today, he leads the legal team representing Guyana at the International Court of Justice in the 1899 Arbitral Award case involving Venezuela.

Guyana, President Granger said, is eternally grateful for his inestimable contributions to nation-building.

Sir Shridath Ramphal in discussion with President David Granger during the recommissioning ceremony of the Ramphal House

“The Cooperative Republic of Guyana considers it fitting that this Institute, dedicated to educating our country’s diplomats, should be named after Shridath Ramphal, one of the architects of Guyana’s foreign relations,” the President said.
Meanwhile, in turning back the pages of history, the Head of State noted that the foundations of Guyana’s foreign policy were laid in the early years after Independence. Guyana, having attained its Independence in May 1966, began the process of establishing a Foreign Service.

“The young state facilitated the entry of some of the best minds into the Foreign Service directed by Prime Minister Forbes Burnham who held the portfolio of Minister of External Affairs, and superintended by Sir Shridath Ramphal, the Minister of State for External Affairs and supported by a team of capable public servants and diplomats. This talented team not only built a foreign service from scratch but, also, crafted a foreign policy which enabled the young state to ward off the early challenges to its territorial integrity and sovereignty,” President Granger detailed.

Guyana’s Republican status in 1970 saw the extension of relations with other countries including socialist states, the recognition of the People’s Republic of China and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba. The country was also integrally involved in the Non-Aligned Movement – championing the cause for the end of apartheid in South Africa.

“The Republic, by the second decade of the life of Independence, could boast of being a founder of the Caribbean Community; of having hosted the first meeting of foreign ministers of Non-Aligned states in the western hemisphere; of being elected to the Security Council twice; of having its acclaimed sons elected to the President of the General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, as Secretary General of the United Nations, President of the United Nations Council for Namibia. Guyanese, much later, would assume Chair of the Group of 77 and the West Indian Commission. Its Heads of State have chaired the Caribbean Community and the Rio Group,” the President detailed.

However, he noted that months after Guyana celebrated statehood in May 1966 it was faced with the ominous report that the Venezuelan National Armed Forces had occupied the Guyanese portion of the Island of Ankoko in the Cuyuni River, in what is now the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region. This, he noted, was just the start.

“There followed a seemingly ceaseless series of crises. The unsuccessful efforts of the four newly-independent Caribbean States to avert the secession of the island of Anguilla from St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla in 1967; the issuance of the Venezuela decree (known as the Leoni Decree after the Venezuelan President Raúl Leoni Otero) reasserting its claim to the Essequibo and its maritime zone in 1969; the attempted secession of the Rupununi District and the defence of the New River Zone in 1969 and other bruising international encounters reached their bloody climax on 6th October 1976 when the Cubana de Aviacion flight CU 455 was blasted out of the air killing eleven Guyanese over the Caribbean sea,” he chronicled.

Noting that much has been written on the roots of Guyana’s diplomacy, President Granger said it is imperative that cadets and diplomats be schooled on the lessons of the past during their stint at the Foreign Service Institute. Reference was made to literatures by Forbes Burnham’s In defence of National Sovereignty and Peace; Shridath Ramphal’s Development or Defence: The Small State Threatened With Aggression; Rashleigh Jackson’s Safeguarding the Security of Small States; and Cedric Joseph’s Anglo-American Diplomacy and the Re-opening of the Guyana-Venezuela boundary controversy.

President Granger said the Guyanese Diplomats have a duty to protect the interest of the country while fostering regional integration. “The national interest demands the preservation and protection of our territorial integrity and respect for its sovereignty.

Sir Shridath Ramphal presenting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings, with a rare commemorative copy of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana, in the presence of President David Granger Photos by Elvin Croker

Guyana’s ambitions at independence were not dissimilar to that of any other newly independent state. Forbes Burnham, the first Prime Minister, summarized those ambitions in the words: “We want to preserve our newly-acquired independence, to develop our resources with our own energies and the assistance of friends,” he said.

Cognizant to threats to its territory, Guyana, the Head of State noted, sought the protection of the international community, and today enjoys the support of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Commonwealth, Non-Aligned Movement and from friendly states.
“Guyana placed its trust in international law in its relations with other states based on mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” President Granger emphasised.
Venezuelan’s challenge

Meanwhile, Sir Shridath noted that the challenge posed by Venezuela was in fact to be the making of Guyana. “As we saw it, our very existence was on the line. We needed the international community. We needed their understanding, their support; we had to find our feet quickly, we had to win friends and above all, we had to earn respect. We had a cause to pursue. This cause was existential,” he said.

That aside, Sir Shridath recalled that once Guyana had achieved independence, he had the honour of participating in a process that resulted in the Constitution being amended to establish Guyana as a Republic. It was at that point, that the distinguished Guyanese Diplomat presented Minister Cummings with a rare commemorative copy of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana.

In her remarks, Minister Cummings noted that Ramphal House is one of three buildings associated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The other two are the edifice of Dutch architecture on Carmichael Street, where the Ministry started in 1966 and the Takuba Lodge. Since 1966, she said the Foreign Affairs Ministry has evolved, and Guyana has to thank Sir Shridath Ramphal, Rashleigh Jackson, Rudy Collins, Cedric Joseph, Dr. Barton Scotland, Justice Duke Pollard and Clement Rohee, and Carl Greenidge – all of whom have provided yeoman service.

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