THE local diplomatic community is still stunned that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley held talks with a United States Democratic congressional leader instead of seeking a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump.
Diplomats and others with experience in the foreign service say the meeting between Caricom leaders and a US team headed by Hakeem Jefferies amounted to a courtesy call with little substance.
Jefferies, a Democratic leader, led a delegation of 10, nine of whom are Democrats who will soon be in the congressional opposition.
The Republicans will take over leadership of both the House and Representatives and Senate in the new year and push that party’s agenda.
“You could sum it up as a waste of precious time,” one former foreign service officer said of the meeting in Barbados.
Razia Ali, a former senior foreign service officer, termed the session “a silly and nonsensical meeting.”
Rodney Charles a former Trinidad and Tobago diplomat, said the meeting was “a glamorous photo op that, in reality, has negligible geopolitical impact.”
Charles noted the composition of the delegation and the fact that Republicans would control Congress when Trump becomes President on January 20.
He said the region “must demand to know the measurable gains” from the meeting.
Charles, who served as T&T’s permanent representative to the United Nations, also called for recruitment of a new T&T lobbyist in the US “with strong links to Republican decision-makers.”
He stated that the current lobbyist has little influence with the MAGA wing of the Republican party.
Sunshine Today reported last week that lobbyist Arthur Collins continues to receive US $1.2 million (TT about $8 m) a year as T&T’s lobbyist in Washington.
It is not known what Collins has accomplished.
“The era of wine-and-dine club diplomacy is over.” Charles stated.
He advocated “network diplomacy” through which “relationships are developed with meaningful results from participating States.”
The office of the Prime Minister said Rowley and other regional leaders discussed several issues, including security, economic and climate matters.
Foreign affairs experts suggested that Rowley and other regional leaders should attempt to get an audience with Trump at Mar-al-Lago, Florida.
Several world leaders have been making a beeline to the incoming US president to discuss matters of common interest.
“Surely, Trump would meet a team of Caricom leaders on relevant matters,” a retired diplomat said.
“The Caribbean is in the backyard of the US, after all.”
The ex-diplomat suggested that one topic could be the impact of soon-to-be-imposed trade tariffs by the US on the region’s fragile economies.
Some commentators said T&T’s foreign policy had been adrift under the ministerial leadership of \Amery Browne and his predecessor Dennis Moses.
They argued that apart from a declining international influence, T&T has lost its leadership role in the region.
The Rowley Administration has also been silent in Caricom and internationally with respect to the human rights crisis in Haiti, the conflict-torn country reduced to a failed nation.
