The U.S. appears to have its sights set on either ridding the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) of its Surinamese-born secretary-general or forcing him and his top managers to comply with American political edicts from now on.
The latest word from the Washington, DC-based organization is that the Trump administration has started the undermining process at the agency by alleging financial irresponsibility on the part of Secretary-General Albert Ramdin in addition to alleged nepotism, excessive spending, and fostering tensions among the organization’s 35 member states.
Ramdin, 68, a former Surinamese foreign minister and also a former assistant secretary-general at the Caribbean Community (Caricom), was elected to the top hemispheric position last year with unanimous support from the 15-member regional bloc and a few other nations, mostly in South America. In becoming secretary-general, he is also the first diplomat from Caricom to occupy the SG’s job after decades of mostly Latin American officials.
As it exerts pressure on the organization to apparently bow to its political will, the U.S. in the past week fired a major salvo at the organization, revoking the visa and diplomatic privileges of Xaviera Jessurun, the Surinamese-born chief of staff handpicked by Ramdin to work with him in Washington. The visa cancellation forced many regional and hemispheric diplomats to wonder what the next American move would be because the administration seems set to want to impose its will on the organization.
Jessurun was forced to quit and leave the U.S. almost immediately. The visa revocation appears to have exposed a simmering war between leaders at the OAS and Washington for control of the organization.
Published reports have indicated that the U.S. has circulated an international memorandum demanding an independent audit of finances, aimed at apparently unearthing financial irresponsibility, if not carelessness from lavish spending. Officials have said the probe is also designed to embarrass and undermine Ramdin and his team — he was never the favorite of the U.S. in the lead-up to elections last year.
The memo also complained that Ramdin had brought Jesserun as his chief of staff knowing that she was under an official corruption probe back home, linked to her time as a top official of state-run Surinamese Airways (SLM) — charges she has denied.
Commenting about the latest developments, Surinamese Foreign Minister Melvin Bouva said the cabinet is monitoring developments and wants to fully understand what is happening in Washington. “We are following the developments objectively and carefully,” the minister told reporters. “It is important that the facts are established before conclusions are drawn. We will be guided by the facts. If violations have occurred, those involved must be held accountable. If it turns out that accusations are unfounded, that will also be taken into account.”
In the run-up to his election last year, Ramdin had not been the favored candidate of the U.S. and American officials now seem to be set on laying the groundwork to increase the pressure on him to quit.
In her own statement to the Surinamese media, Jesserun argued that her visa cancellation was “politically motivated” and referred to the slow pace of investigation into fraud allegations at the state airline back home. She is also upset that officials have ignored the legal concept that a person is presumed innocent until it is proven otherwise.
“However frustrating it may be, the process must run its course, out of respect for the rule of law,” she said as she prepared to head back to Suriname.
