Guyana lobbies for Karran to be appointed Deputy Head of OAS

Guyana is to soon begin a fierce lobby for its current Ambassador to Costa Rica Bayney Karran to be given the nod by Caricom for the position of Assistant Secretary General (AGS) of the Organisation of American States (OAS) when the position becomes vacant next year.

However, Karran will be up against Belize Ambassador to the US Nestor Menez, who has also expressed an interest in the post.

Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said Guyana will be hoping that at the level of Caricom, there will be broad support for Karran’s candidacy as this is crucial for him to succeed.

“If you have two candidates from Caricom, then it becomes much harder because the votes would be split… so we would be looking to lobby our counterparts to support our nominee,” Rodrigues-Birkett told  Guyana Times International in an exclusive interview last week.

Karran and Mendez are their countries’ representatives at the OAS, but the Guyanese has more years of experience at the hemispheric body, being appointed his country’s representative there since 2003.

Mendez for his part was accredited in June 13, 2008. Mendez did graduate work at the Eliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He served as Counsellor of the Belize High Commission in London from 1997 to 1999.

Karran once served as Guyana’s Ambassador to the US. Prior to becoming a diplomat, Karran spent two decades working as an Attorney.

Seasoned diplomat

He received his first ambassadorship in 1997, serving as his country’s representative to Venezuela until 2003. During this span, he was also accredited as Ambassador to Chile and Colombia (1998-2003) as well as Ecuador (1999-2003).

Since 1997, he has been a delegate to ministerial and multilateral organisations, such as the Rio Group, the OAS, the Association of Caribbean States and the Latin American Economic System.

In addition to his legal and diplomatic work, Karran has worked in the field of broadcasting, including stints as an announcer, operator and programme producer. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation. Karran is fluent in both English and Spanish.

Current, OAS ASG Surinamese Albert Ramdin has served his two terms and would not be eligible to run again. While Ramdin has expressed an interest in the Secretary General position, his Government said it would not support his candidacy, but rather would give Guyana its vote.

Based on the long established tradition, the top OAS position would normally go to Latin America, while the assistant goes to the Caribbean.

GTI was told that while some Caribbean countries have indicated their willingness to support Ramdin’s efforts for the top position, a better and perhaps more guaranteed vote would be on Karran.

“Because of how things have been done over the years, its more than likely someone from Latin America will get the top position, so we would be better off supporting Karran for the number two spot,” a senior Government functionary commented.

The de Ware Tijd of Suriname had reported last year that the Desi Bouterse Government will neither nominate nor support Ramdin for Secretary General of the OAS in 2015. Instead, it will support the Guyanese nominee for Assistant Secretary General.

The newspaper quoted Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Lackin confirming this decision, adding that he has personally informed Ramdin of this.