ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Jan 6, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Organization of American states (OAS), Sir Ronald Sanders says the Caribbean has a stake in which of the three candidates vying for the position of secretary general of the most influential organisation in this region’s hemisphere.

Writing in his weekly newspaper column titled “Contest for OAS Secretary-General: The Caribbean’s interest,” Sanders said that this why the region has decided to play an active role in the outcome.

The election for the post will be held on March 20, and the three candidates named are the incumbent Luis Almagro,  the present Ambassador of Peru to the United States of America,  Hugo de Zela and the lone female Maria Fernanda Espinosa, who recently served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Antigua and Barbuda and St Vincent and the Grenadines nominated the Ecuadorian Espinosa, whole Colombia submitted the Uruguayan Luis Almagro; and Peru proposed de Zela. The two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have called on their colleagues in the 15-member regional integration movement to back the Ecuadorian after being very critical of Almagro during the tenure of his first term in office. Sanders echoed regional countries’ position that he had arrogated on to himself “the authority to use the OAS as a platform for pronouncements that are reflective only of his narrowly held positions and not of the OAS membership as a collective body.

“In ordinary circumstances Mr. Almagro would be re-elected as Secretary-General with little dissension. Let there be no doubt of his intellectual capacity and his knowledge of Latin America. “Had he taken the time and trouble to appreciate the challenges faced by Caribbean countries and their priorities, he could have become a champion of the smaller countries that comprise almost half of the OAS’ membership,” Sanders wrote, noting that “as the Ambassador, who apart from the Ambassador of Paraguay, has served longest with Mr. Almagro as Secretary-General, I urged him to be more conscious of Caribbean concerns”.

Sanders recalled that in February 2015, when he was seeking election,  Almagro had promised a contingency fund for natural disasters with particular emphasis on Central America and the Caribbean as well as an Interconnectivity Fund for the Caribbean “which can overcome structural weaknesses, either in terms of logistics and information and communications technology, and increase the employment potential for youth;” and third, an Inter-American initiative on climate change “that can reach a consensus on the position of the Hemisphere ahead of Paris 2015.”

Sanders said that apart from a paltry fund to provide a token sum after disasters, none of this happened.

“By several missteps, Mr. Almagro managed to alienate himself from the expectations that many Caribbean leaders – all of whom supported his 2015 election – had of him.” He said also that it is not only amongst Caribbean countries that Almagro’s controversial posture raised concerns.

“This is obvious in the fact that Peru – one of the architects of the Lima Group, an unofficial grouping of countries in the OAS – decided to field Mr. de Zela against him,” Sanders wrote, noting that “since much of Mr. Almagro’s support comes from the same Lima Group of which Mr. de Zela is the present co-ordinator, the two are contending in identical space”. He said CARICOM governments could not identify a suitably qualified CARICOM national willing to enter a competition that was “not fully and openly backed by all of them. “Maria Fernanda had impressed many Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers during her stewardship of the last UN General Assembly.  She showed qualities of consensus building and inclusion that the OAS now desperately needs in its Secretary-General,” he said, adding that contrary to the propaganda directed at her candidacy by supporters of her contenders, she was not nominated because of the “influence of Cuba and Venezuela”.

“ As the representative of one of the governments that nominated her, I can state beyond fear of contradiction that no member of the government of Antigua and Barbuda consulted with any government other than CARICOM ones on proposing her.  Indeed, it is her “ideological-free” conduct of the UNGA as President that attracted her to a Caribbean that is driven in free and democratic societies by pragmatism and practicality.”

Sanders said that Espinosa, a very seasoned diplomat and government minister “understands the demands on government and the importance of building bridges in international relations. “Her experience as Ambassador to several UN institutions and her engagement with regional governments in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Arab States, places her in a good position to try to unlock new resources for the OAS for sustainable development issues, particularly climate change and financing,” he wrote. At least 34 countries are eligible to vote for the new OAS secretary general.