IT WAS A proud and memorable moment half a century ago for a newly minted nation and its leader.
Within days of lowering for the last time the Union Jack, the symbol of England’s imperial but waning global influence and raising Barbados’ flag on November 30, 1966, Prime Minister Errol Barrow headed for New York.
It was a winter’s day in December and the occasion was the formal admission of the island to UN membership and Barrow pledged: “We will not regard any great power as necessarily right in a given dispute unless we are convinced of this, yet at the same time we will not view the great powers with perennial suspicion merely on account of their size, their wealth or their nuclear potential.”
Next was the coup de grace: “We shall be friends of all and satellites of none.”
Fast forward to a recent Friday afternoon, ten blocks from the General Assembly where Barrow had laid the foundation stone for the country’s foreign policy at the height of the Cold War.
The venue was “Perigord,” an upscale restaurant in Sutton Place, an exclusive East Side community where some of New York’s most influential public figures reside. The Barbados UN Mission chose it for the country’s golden jubilee of independence luncheon hosted by Tony Marshall, Permanent Representative to the UN.
“We sought to observe two milestones, the first was the golden jubilee of our attainment of sovereignty and the second was the 50th anniversary of our membership in the UN,” Marshall said afterwards. “Not many countries were welcomed into the UN fold with the speed and ease that Barbados enjoyed. The UN is the world’s leading centre for multilateral diplomacy and it’s our main stage for interfacing diplomatically with the rest of the world.”
In a short address to the diplomats and other guests from Europe, Latin America, the US, Caribbean, Asia, Africa and other UN regions, Marshall said Barbados believed in the value of education, gender equality, freedom of speech and other essential principles.
Indeed, he added, education had helped to get “us where we are today” as a respected emerging economy that was once described by Kofi Annan, a Nobel peace-prize winning former UN Secretary General as a country that “punched above its weight”.
Marshall, a retired banker, quoted the portion of Barrow’s acceptance speech about the importance of even-handedness in foreign policy to get the message across.
Ronald Goddard, a US ambassador whose birthplace serves as the UN’s host said Barbados was a highly respected UN member while Ellison Rahming, The Bahamas’ permanent representative and current chairman of the Caricom Caucus of ambassadors described Barbados as being “loved” by all as a centre of democracy in the Caribbean. Maria Emma MejiaVelez, Colombia’s PR, who chairs the Group of Latin American and Caribbean member-states to which Barbados belongs, said that the island was a vital part of the international community and of the Western Hemisphere family of states.
Charles Thelbani Ntwaage, Botswana’s top UN diplomat, who heads the African caucus, said for 50 years of UN membership Barbados had distinguished itself as a worthy Caribbean state with roots in Africa.
“As a people of African ancestry, we hail Barbadians on their golden jubilee and anniversary of UN membership,” he said later.
Interestingly, Sayed Akbaruddin, India’s permanent representative said whenever Barbados’ name was mentioned his “first thoughts” were usually of the cricket pitch and the exploits of Sir Garry Sobers and a long line of outstanding stars who were excellent ambassadors for their country.
“Of course, Barbados plays its valuable role in international affairs in climate change, peace and security and social and economic development.”
Jan Kickert, Austria’s PR agreed.
“Barbados has earned its place of respect at the UN,” he said.
The celebration, an elegant and smoothly run social affair, was held together with excellence by Petra Roach, Director of the Barbados Tourism Authority in the US.
“It was a wonderful celebration,” said Courtenay Rattray, Jamaica’s Ambassador. “It made us all proud.”
Among those present were Penelope Beckles, Trinidad and Tobago’s PR, Steven Legall, a Barbadian businessman and owner of one of Brooklyn’s largest funeral homes, and Bill Howard, president of the West Indian-American Day Carnival Association, WIADCA which organises the annual Caribbean carnival in Brooklyn.
Tony Best is the NATION’s North American Correspondent. Email: Bestra@aol.com
