U.S. not telling Caricom how to conduct relations with Cuba – Hardt

Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett has affirmed the government’s position that Guyana would go the route of “agreeing to disagree” when it relates to matters concerning the United States, Cuba and Caricom.
She made this comment in response to a question posed by reporters on Friday about the country’s response to the call from the U. S. Ambassador to Guyana, D Brent Hardt, for Caricom to exhort on Cuba, the need to practise democracy and human rights.
Rodrigues-Birkett stated that Guyana also encounters problems with human rights when it comes to deportees from the U. S., among other issues, adding that despite this, both Cuba and the U.S. remain good friends with Guyana. The foreign minister emphasised that there is no “one size fits all” policy when it comes to democracy, as the U.S. has many friends around the world where human rights are being trampled upon.
“I think that we have an understanding in the diplomatic world that we’ll agree to disagree. Certainly there’re many things in human rights that we’d like to discuss, we’d like to discuss human rights with deportees for instance and some of our people coming back here and some of the things we’d like to see included there… I see that many countries have partnered with other countries that don’t have our brand of democracy as well.”
Meanwhile, Ambassador Hardt said that the U.S. is not trying to tell Caricom how to conduct its relations with Cuba. He explained that since Cuba and Caricom are so friendly, he believes Cuba would listen to Caricom as opposed to the U.S. and provide more liberty to its people.
However, when questioned about the practices of the U.S. in relation to human rights, with particular reference to Guantanamo, Ambassador Hardt accepted that the U. S. is not perfect.
“We put our human rights record out to public discussions, international discussions. We’re not perfect, we are trying to deal with some very serious security threats as well, but we are a staunch defender for human rights throughout the world and will continue to do so… it’s always struck me that there is great potential for this region to help move Cuba to a place where its people can also share those same values, the same freedom and because the Caribbean is such a good friend of and partner with Cuba, I think they’d be more inclined to listen to folks from this region than they might be if they heard the same thing from us,” Ambassador Hardt said. He also committed that the U.S. will continue to champion the cause for democracy and human rights around the globe.