Premier Diplomat, Caribbean statesman

Sir Shridath Surendranath Ramphal, born on October 3, 1928, died on August 30, 2024, was one of the most distinguished persons to have come from our Caribbean.  He was born in colonial British Guiana (now Guyana) but belonged, in his life, living, and work, to the Caribbean, the Commonwealth, and the world.  His life and work were in quest of a further ennoblement of our Caribbean civilisation and humanity, globally.

Sir Shridath, affectionately known to all as Sonny, descended from indentured labourers out of India, who had been corralled to provide cheap labour in colonial British Guyana subsequent to the abolition of the enslavement of African bodies and the arrival of indentured servants from Portuguese Madeira.

From an early age, Sonny Ramphal embraced the process, and results, of creolisation and ethnic integration in Guyana and our Caribbean.  He enveloped himself, too, from his university years in Britain to the end of his days upon this Earthly City, with the praxis of economic and political integration of the West Indies.

Sir Shridath’s profound understanding, derived from deep study and lived experiences, of colonialism, imperialism, globalisation, racism, monopoly capitalism, conflict, and war, shaped his political consciousness in pursuance of human dignity, social justice, equality, the bolstering of sovereignty and independence, fairness and equity in global affairs, democracy and freedom, dialogue and compromise, peace and sustainable development.

Sir Shridath’s scholarship, immense technical and diplomatic skills, capacity for hard and smart work, integrity and honesty, the uplifting core values of his persona, and his superlative accomplishments mark him as the most outstanding diplomat and negotiator to have ever emerged from our Caribbean.  The various high offices which Sir Shridath held in Guyana, the Caribbean, the Commonwealth, and globally over his long and illustrious career, and his extraordinary endeavours, are testimony to his unparalleled greatness as our region’s premier diplomat ever, and his status in the front ranks of our great statesmen/women.

At first, I saw this great man from a distance; later I worked with him in the vineyard of regional integration, and in the process, became his student and his friend.  I am unlikely ever to meet another statesman/woman and Caribbean man/woman of a higher quality than Sonny Ramphal.

Throughout it all, Sonny Ramphal exhibited his tried and tested values of humility, an amazing grace, an abiding faith, a refreshed hope, and an enduring love for people, especially the marginalised and the disadvantaged, and a patience and a calm.

Sir Shridath was a family man imbued with a profound sense of community and social solidarity.

Martin Carter’s Looking at Your Hands seems apt:

“No!

I will not still my voice!

I have

too much to claim –

if you see me

looking at books

or coming to your house

or walking in the sun

know that I look for fire!

“I have learnt

from books dear friend

of men dreaming and living

and hungering in a room without a light

who could not die since death was far too poor

who did not sleep to dream, but dreamed to change the world!

“And so

if you see me

looking at your hands

listening when you speak

marching in your ranks

you must know

I do not sleep to dream, but dream to change the world.”

On behalf of the government and people of St Vincent and the Grenadines, on behalf of my family and me, I express sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Sir Surendranath Shridath Ramphal.

Dr  Ralph E Gonsalves
 Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines