St Kitts-Nevis' UN ambassador praises PM Hariss' leadership of CARICOM on Venezuelan crisis

Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, has come in for high praise from St. Kitts and Nevis’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Sam Terrence Condor, who is in the Federation for Diplomatic Week 2019 held under the theme “Securing a Resilient Future through Strategic Diplomacy and Effective Dialogue”.

Speaking at a press conference of the diplomatic and consular corps accredited to St. Kitts and Nevis at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on April 8 as one of the activities for Diplomatic Week, Ambassador Condor said he was extremely pleased with Prime Minister Harris’ leadership on the Venezuelan political crisis, which is still unfolding.

“I was very pleased by the leadership taken by our prime minister when the crisis broke. As Chairman of CARICOM, he led a Heads meeting and spoke to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the General Assembly. I think it was a very successful meeting. I think CARICOM set the stage and the tone,” His Excellency Condor said. “In fact, were it not for that early intervention, I think things would have been a lot worse and I want to commend CARICOM—the leadership led by our prime minister, for the role they took early and really set the stage, and so what people are doing right now is following that lead.”

“What I could say is that it important that CARICOM remains engaged because I think CARICOM is on the high moral ground,” Ambassador Condor added.

On January 28, 2019, Prime Minister Harris led a high-level CARICOM delegation to the United Nations headquarters in New York that comprised Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Mia Mottley and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley. The main purpose of the visit was to meet with the Secretary-General of the UN, His Excellency António Guterres, to discuss the political imbroglio in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Also, in attendance at that meeting were several Foreign Affairs Ministers from the CARICOM, several Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to the UN, senior aides, and representatives from the CARICOM Secretariat including CARICOM Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque.

CARICOM called for peaceful dialogue in Venezuela and a respect for international law with respect to non-interference in domestic affairs which prohibits threat or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Since the UN meeting, several other meetings on the Venezuelan crisis have ensued including the CARICOM-Mexico-Uruguay led conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, on February 7, 2019, and a conference of the International Contact Group in Quito, Ecuador, on March 28, 2019.