It was a well-crafted and excellently speech by President Irfaan Ali at the UN on Sept 23. It was masterfully, cogently, and powerfully delivered. It was one of the President’s finest speeches; the President, and his speech writer (s), contributors, reviewers of the speech must be commended for the contents. It was nicely pitched. Dr Ali hit current hot button issues.
He coined his speech in terms of security – global security, including terrorism, cyber warfare, maritime security, global digital governance, misinformation, social media, disinformation, and other challenges that impact on national sovereignty.
He started out right by warning that “international peace and security will ring hollow if it allows ‘power’ (meaning stronger nations) to triumph over principle and might to override right”.
He rightly stated that the UN was created out of a crisis (WWII), and today it is also facing crises including wars. He mentioned Gaza, state of Palestinians, Ukraine, Haiti, Venezuela, women affairs, sustainability goals, Beijing Declaration, climate change, LCDS, AI, cybercrime, cyber terrorism, abuse of social media, poverty, human welfare, and food security, among others. He didn’t mention the USA directly in his brief remarks. But clearly, Ali was thanking USA (our friend and partner) for support against Venezuela’s saber rattling. He was indirectly urging Washington to rethink its position on Climate and Palestine.
In Guyana and in the diaspora, the speech has been viewed positively. The President continues to garner praises for standing up to Maduro — territorial integrity reigns supreme for Guyana and all Guyanese.
Aside from delivering his speech, the President met several international figures including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who is a key contributor to Guyana’s territorial security.