The Government of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has reacted with concern to remarks made by installed Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo, reports the Trinidad Guardian on March 25. Jagdeo had — in remarks made in response to protests by Guyanese rice farmers said that “Trinidad is falling apart, and that’s putting it mildly – falling apart!”
According to the Trinidad and Tobago media company, T&T’s Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Amery Browne has spoken with Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd about Jagdeo’s remarks. Dr. Browne has confirmed that he made a phone call to his Guyanese counterpart regarding the issue.
Dr. Browne said, “I have shared my view on this matter with Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-Operation [Hugh Todd], who is well-positioned to advise his government on matters of regional history, integration, and respect which our foreparents worked so hard to achieve across this region. At this point, I have no further public comment.”
The Trinidad Guardian reports that “Jagdeo’s comment stirred up concern among citizens that one Caricom state would make such bad remarks about a fellow CARICOM country. Others felt Jagdeo should have found a better way to make his remark. Guyana Opposition MP Sherod Avery Duncan, on Twitter, wondered what ‘TT-CARICOM brothers and sisters would say on the issue.”
Political analyst Dr. Bishnu Ragoonath weighed in on Jagdeo’s remarks. The analyst said, “It may not be in CARICOM’s best interests to have said it like that and I’m not sure it will help ties between the two countries. I’m assuming [Bharrat Jagdeo] was speaking to a Guyanese audience.” Dr. Ragoonath added, “It puts a nail further into the divide between the T&T and Guyana governments, especially since this (Jagdeo) government took office.” T&T’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has not commented on the matter.
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