ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The Grenada government has named Glen Noel, a former junior government minister, as the island’s new ambassador to Cuba.
“We expect that administrative work leading to his posting in Havana will be completed shortly. We expect that he will be posted in Havana by the middle of February,” Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a news conference.
Noel, a former general secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), is the only publicly named diplomat since the Mitchell administration came to power in June last year.
Noel, who served as a junior minister in a previous NDC administration, succeeds Claris Charles, who officially demitted the post on December 21, last year.
Prime Minister Mitchell told reporters that his administration has begun training several people who will soon be appointed diplomats or to diplomatic missions.
“We have begun the first round of training for the persons we intend to name as diplomats. We have not publicly announced them. The first meeting took place last week Wednesday.
“The reality is we are almost starting from zero, and hence the reason for us taking our time to get this right and that people are not simply thrust into a position where they have no training nor opportunity to ensure that they are clear as to what our expectation of them.
“We have to some extent, have persons who are likely to be given such positions. That is why we have the training, that is why we are having the discussion, and once that is complete, the announcements will be made,” Mitchell said.
He told reporters that there is a shortage of Grenadians who are career diplomats and that the situation is so severe that it requires identifying and training a new group of people who will be able to serve in diplomatic roles.
“I am going to reiterate; we perhaps have not understood the gravity of what has happened to the diplomatic corps or service in Grenada. Almost 90 percent of the persons holding diplomatic passports were non-Grenadians, not in any real or significant way affiliated with Grenada, nor residence in Grenada, not in my view attune to the culture as well as the economic and development needs of the citizens of Grenada.
“And, so we need to ensure that whoever we appoint as diplomats, the first criteria is being Grenadian unless we can make an exception, but we need to make sure that persons are trained and understand what diplomacy is about, understands the government’s policy, understand what we are seeking to get when you are posted to a mission,” said Prime Minister Mitchell.
and then 