By Peter Richards
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Mar 2, CMC – Albert Ramdin, the 67-year old Foreign Affairs Minister of Suriname is a very confident person, so much so that he believes that on March 10, he will be elected as the new Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Ramdin, is coming up against Rubén Ramírez, the Foreign Minister of Paraguay, in a bid to succeed Luis Almagro, who was first elected as OAS Secretary General in 2015 and re-elected in 2020.
He has brushed aside negative media comments, including one implicating him in human trafficking activities. Ramdin said he is aware of the allegation, but added the write “is known to us in Suriname.
“He has been criticising everybody including the President (Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi). We wanted to sue him for making false allegations. Lawyers said don’t waste time, nobody takes him on,” Ramdin said.
A third person, Arnaldo André, the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, has entered the contest as an unofficial candidate and has recently published a manifesto in Spanish, outlining his vision for the Organization.
Political observers note that the government of Costa Rica has the right to propose André’s candidacy up to the day of the election on March 10, but he is unlikely to garner much support.
(Details in Politics section)
CMC/2025