Time for CARICOM rep to head OAS

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - I have read with great alarm and significant disappointment an article published on Wednesday in the Stabroek News of Guyana and carried on the internet with the headline Suriname Will Not Support Ramdin for OAS Post. Apparently, the Suriname Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Lackin has confirmed that his Government will neither nominate nor support the current Assistant Secretary General (ASG) of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, who is also Surinamese, for the top post of Secretary General (SG) of the OAS. It is reported that in 2015, when the election for the SG and the ASG is due, Suriname will support the Guyanese nominee for ASG. Traditionally the SG and the ASG do not come from the same region, so that if precedent is followed and our Caribbean region supports the Guyanese nominee for the post of ASG, the top post will be given once again to a representative from Central or South America. Now I have nothing against Latin America and its ability, through its various representatives over the years, to lead the OAS since its inception in 1948 but there must be a very good reason for throwing away an opportunity for our region to have one of its members lead an organisation as important as the OAS.