The secretary general of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Carla Barnett, highlighted his devotion to public service while he held various positions at the national, regional and international levels, in addition to defining him as an example of excellence in diplomacy, law and politics with a prominent career that earned him admiration and respect.
The bloc’s rotating chairman and prime minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell, recalled Ramphal’s brilliant performance while serving as Attorney General of his homeland, top representative of the universities of Guyana and the West Indies, as well as Caricom’s chief negotiator for external trade relations.
“His influence transcended beyond our borders and reached the international arena, where his decisive leadership as secretary general of the Commonwealth of Nations left results on global issues, including the end of apartheid in southern Africa,” the Grenadian noted.
Similarly, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, described the late diplomat as “a son of the Caribbean and a citizen of the world” who devoted his life to internationalizing the region’s image and also to fostering economic and political integration.
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