A doctor in the Upper House

DR AMERY Browne has assumed stewardship of the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry at a time when countries are struggling to contain covid19, the global economy is in the doldrums, the planet is facing climate disaster, and Donald Trump is seeking re-election.

We need a strong voice.

Dr Browne, in the finest diplomatic tradition, has spoken of learning from “those who went before,” but would do well to avoid the approach of his predecessor Dennis Moses.

Despite fluency in multiple languages, Mr Moses’s reluctance to account properly to the public made you wonder whether disdain had overtaken diplomacy.

Controversy involving a botched vote at the OAS on hurricane aid, as well as an incident at the Piarco Airport gates, did not help.

Nor did Mr Moses’s dramatic shift from espousing the doctrine of non-interference to attending an inauguration ceremony in Caracas, then later finding his voice in order to deem the Rio Treaty irrelevant when it came to hosting impugned Venezuelan officials.

Throughout, we were sometimes left to read between the lines, while at others inundated with inanities and bureaucratic cant and a haughty silence more suited to old-school models of public service.

Dr Browne must resist this.

He will have little time to do otherwise. There is a pressing need to consider extending humanitarian aid to people stranded in other countries, to co-ordinate repatriation, to work with international partners to contain covid19 and to synchronise recovery efforts.

Whatever our official position on Venezuela, there is a separate imperative for a coherent policy on the humanitarian issues raised by that country’s crisis. There is simply too much uncertainty when it comes to the legal status of refugees, migrants, registrants. This has been complicated by the intersection of the pandemic and the security issues raised.

In this world, the arcane, secretive, overly-bureaucratic workings of civil servants cannot trump transparency, accountability and public discussion. For a small country, and a former colony, “foreign affairs” may have once seemed an abstract thing. But global events show how these dynamics have a direct bearing on everyday life, and cross borders.

The manifold efforts to undermine international agencies – such as the World Health Organization – also make our voice ever more important in the global theatre of politics.

It is comforting to know Dr Browne comes to the post with ministerial experience. He previously served as social development minister in one of Patrick Manning’s Cabinets, and followed that up by being an outspoken member of the opposition benches before becoming a diplomat.

And as suggested by the title of his new portfolio, Dr Browne will have to maintain our healthy relationship with Caricom, as Caribbean states seek to close ranks and bolster each other in a world marked by uncertainty and beset with gathering storms.