Browne: Despite 'arrogant' comments, Trinidad and Tobago stands, as always, with Guyana

DR AMERY BROWNE

Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs

Members of the Caricom family normally avoid launching imbalanced and disrespectful descriptives about neighbouring member states. The region recently witnessed some politicians in Guyana offering public analysis of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, with one of them describing his own discourse in this manner, "it sounds arrogant, but it's not hostile or xenophobic."

Well, the truth is that some of the comments have been all three: arrogant, hostile and xenophobic.

This comes hot on the heels of opposition politicians in TT seeking to obstruct the expansion of the CSME's free movement regime and to block TT's most recent steps toward full compliance with our obligations under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

Even before this, we have seen some opposition politicians in TT advancing anti-Caricom talking points, focused on insularity and isolationism and of course remaining unsupportive of the Caribbean Court of Justice. They now seem to be trying to draw strength for their efforts from a narrative from overseas that paints a one-sided and denigrating image of TT.

So what exactly is this repeated public commentary about TT by a few Guyanese public figures designed to achieve?

Who is their target audience, and what are their objectives?

The truth is that TT citizens are amongst the warmest and most generous in the world. Nothing anyone says can change that. We are in fact largely a nation of immigrants.

There are many Guyanese and Jamaicans and Grenadians and Barbadians and Vincentians and others from the region who migrated to TT over the generations and have done extremely well for themselves and are now an integral part of our diverse, melting-pot society.

There are hundreds of thousands of Caribbean nationals who have had the same positive experience here and have been welcomed with open arms and hospitality; they have thrived in TT, they have helped develop many of our industries, and they love our land with all their heart. There have been examples of mistreatment and a better-than-thou attitude as exists in every society, but it is a complete disservice to our country to make those exceptions the rule and to disrespectfully paint an entire nation with one broad brush.

Many Guyanese have done very well here and remitted money back to Guyana over the generations and many continue to do so. That is something that we can be very proud of, as we are all part of one Caricom family.

The warmth and generosity of TT toward Guyana goes well beyond receiving so many of their nationals who were and are seeking a better life.

When the nation of Guyana needed it most, they were able to benefit from the generous write-off of billions in debt owed to TT. Interestingly this was never referenced in the recent negative “analysis.”

When Guyana was on the brink of bloodshed and widespread civil unrest after an elections fiasco, it was our Prime Minister, Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley, who went there with the Prime Minister of Barbados and a Caricom delegation to help ensure that democracy and peace would prevail.

When Guyanese fishermen were detained by Venezuelan authorities, I swiftly summoned the Ambassador of Venezuela to the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs. I told him that TT stands with Guyana and that we view the plight of those fishermen just the same as if they were from TT.

When Prime Minister Rowley was chair of Caricom in 2021, we gave resolute support to the Guyanese position in the claims being made by Venezuela for much of their territory.

We are one family. When massive floods hit Guyana it was our Government and our private sector who spared no effort or expense in procuring and offering assistance to our Guyanese brothers and sisters in their time of need.

Speaking publicly about Guyana and TT, in the manner that has been done recently, without referencing such tangible realities does great disservice to the truth and is an offence against the warmth that our people and nations have shared and must continue to share.

Some of the recent comments against TT strike a stark contrast to Guyanese President Irfan Ali's public comments, which have been consistently positive and focused on closer regional integration.

TT is a proud and sovereign republic.

We are not "falling apart," notwithstanding any rhetoric from any politician or aspirant at home or overseas.

Just like every other small island state in our region, we are emerging from the most devastating pandemic of our lifetimes, and we are working to revitalise our economy. Our private sector, including our manufacturing sector and services industry, continues to be outstanding in performance within the country and region.

There are many economies within our region that are as dependent on tourism as ours has been on petrochemicals, but that has never been the basis for us to politically disparage each other as we each and all seek to expand our economic base. We certainly have differences of opinion amongst ourselves, but when those differences are prosecuted with disrespect, the message loses any potential for a positive outcome.

This is a reminder that we can be proud of our respective nations whilst at the same time avoiding disrespect and imbalance in our public discourse about other member states. Arrogance and xenophobia have no place in the modern politics of the Caribbean Community, and any public figure in our region who seeks to nourish insularity and distil hostility within Caricom in the year 2022 has not been paying sufficient attention to the harsh lessons of the past.