What has not been publicized about this visit, other than a fleeting reference, couched obscurely amongst names that cause less consternation, is the fact that Elisabeth Harper was one of the people summoned to be part of the Guyana Team meeting with the UN delegation attempting to resolve the border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela.
The fact that Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, sought Mrs. Harper’s input is testament that her twenty five years at the diplomatic table to what she brings to our country’s conversation with the United Nation’s about our sovereignty, as it relates to the Venezuelan border dispute.
So, the question remains, why is this obviously valuable resource not a part of this administration that still touts shared governance and inclusivity?
It would be a shame to think that she is still being excluded because of her decision to run on the Opposition’s ticket. We may still be disappointed with that decision and tempted to gauge her ability to judge because she chose run with Mr. Ramotar.
But, clouded as her judgment may have been, we concluded, albeit informally, that she added an excellence and a level of dignity to that card because of the distinguished level of foreign service she had already provided in service to our country. Indeed, we pondered, even lamented over her apparent political naiveté , as she sacrificed, so willingly, at the altar of the PPP, wondering if she couldn’t see how she was being used as the ethnic component the desperate party was looking for to help them retain power.
Because everyone else knew, we were wondering if she didn’t know how inept her running mate had been for four years and how much she would have had to work to cover his lack of presidential qualities and still function as the country’s Prime Minister and because she was so well known in diplomatic circles, we know the world would have been looking to her for sound and sensible answers – conclusions that Mr. Ramotar had already demonstrated were challenging to his capabilities.
Now, we are facing an international crisis and we have asked Mrs. Harper to contribute, mostly because of her hands on knowledge of this circuit and largely because she is considered a credible and qualified counterpart by many sitting at the discussion table.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, who reputedly said he had no knowledge of whether Mrs. Harper was even available, much more for posting to an ambassadorial position, has proven himself wrong.
We know she couldn’t just show up for the closed door talks. She had to have been summoned by Minister Greenidge himself, especially since he headed the Guyana delegation.
Mrs. Harper has demonstrated that she is more patriot than partisan by responding without equivocation to this governments call for help and given that she has repeatedly signaled her readiness to serve her country, it would be an extended faux pas for the Administration to pretend that she is neither useful nor available.
Though the Opposition is doing its all to undermine it, the arc of our politics has taken a historic turn with this new government construct. Now that Minister Greenidge has confirmed that Mrs. Harper is both willing and available to serve, we look forward to him recruiting her back into the Foreign Service, where he has an obvious need