Foreign Affairs Minister Hails New Secretary General of OAS

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, has congratulated Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation, His Excellency Albert Ramdin, on being elected the new Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS).

“It is with the greatest pride and pleasure that I extend, on behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, heartiest congratulations to His Excellency Albert Ramdin of the Republic of Suriname on his election as the first Caribbean national to the position of Secretary General of the OAS,” the Minister said.

Senator Johnson Smith, who led Jamaica’s delegation to the Special General Assembly, delivered an address on March 10.

“We all need the OAS to deliver on its core mandate of securing peace and justice, promoting solidarity, strengthening collaboration, and defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States, as outlined in Article 1 of the OAS Charter,” the Minister said.

She pointed out that tasked with such consequential responsibilities, the OAS cannot and must not fail.

The Minister said Jamaica has every confidence, therefore, that Minister Ramdin has the requisite skills and expertise to build consensus among Member States, to enhance synergies among the Inter-American bodies and agencies, and to effectively engage the private sector and civil society to address issues such as poverty, food and energy insecurity, climate change, irregular migration and violence against women and girls.

She said that her Delegation looks forward to working with Secretary General-elect Ramdin and all Member States of the OAS to realise the shared vision for the advancement of the hemisphere.

“It is only through dialogue and collective action that we can achieve our objectives and ensure that the OAS remains a viable multilateral forum,” the Minister said.

Minister Ramdin, who formerly served as Assistant Secretary General of the OAS between 2005 and 2015, has been elected to serve as the Secretary General for the term 2025 to 2030.

Senator Johnson Smith took the opportunity to pay tribute to Secretary General, Luis Almagro, for his decade of service to the OAS.

“Secretary General Almagro’s stewardship of and advocacy on behalf of the Organisation has – even when controversial – ensured that the principles enshrined in the OAS Charter, particularly around the rule of law, democracy and human rights, are upheld as important complements to addressing security and achieving sustainable development,” she said.

The Minister also lauded the Secretary General for his support with respect to scholarships in language training, science, engineering, teacher training, management, capacity-building and security.

The flagship New Path Project was one of the projects implemented in Jamaica that allowed several of the young people to receive training in innovative entrepreneurship.

Senator Johnson Smith told the delegates that progress within the region cannot be realised, “if we are not all working together and supporting each other”.

“The crisis in our sister nation, Haiti, requires our sustained, dedicated attention and we must not rest until we have given Haiti the full support that it deserves, so that peace and stability can be restored and ordinary Haitians can live in peace and harmony,” she said.

She added that Jamaica, along with the Caribbean Community, has been working assiduously with this objective in mind, and “we are grateful for the OAS’ uncompromising support in this regard. I urge Member States, partners and the international community to continue to play a supporting role to Haiti as the country takes steps towards attaining lasting peace and stability, and the holding of free, fair and transparent elections”.

Commenting on the situation unfolding in fellow OAS Member State Guyana, whose sovereignty and territorial integrity continues to be threatened by the actions of Venezuela on the border, the Minister said: “I wish to reaffirm publicly and categorically, Jamaica’s unwavering support for Guyana and to underscore our condemnation of any act that seeks to aggravate or escalate tensions.

“We encourage reliance on the process before the International Court of Justice and urge restraint and dialogue as we seek to uphold the designation of our region as a Zone of Peace,” the Minister said.

While in Washington, Senator Johnson Smith held bilateral meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru,

His Excellency Elner Shialer; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, His Excellency Omar Paganini and President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), José Luiz Caballero.