KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says he does not “feel too easily offended and disrespected” following an incident in Guyana earlier this month when he and his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart, Dr. Keith Rowley, became the latest high-level officials to fall victim to American Airlines policy.
In a statement, the Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the airline had refused to allow the two prime ministers, who were here attending the 2023 International Energy Conference and Expo, to check in through the VIP Lounge at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
The Foreign Ministry said the Guyana government had previously protested this position taken by American Airlines against its high and senior government officials but without success.
“They have continued to pay scant regard to the Government’s requests for entitlements to the positions held to be respected,” the ministry said, adding that in the case of the two prime ministers, “all Government protocols were in place to facilitate their departure.”
Speaking on a radio program here on Sunday, Prime Minister Gonsalves told listeners, “first of all, nobody forced me to do anything” and that both government leaders were inside the VIP lounge “early” on the morning of their departure.
“I think it was (as) we are going to Miami and then to the Bahamas, and the Chief of Protocol came and said that the people doing the check-in at AA requested that we come there so that they could identify the face to the passport. That’s what I understand. So I said, ‘Fine. Keith, let’s go.’
Gonsalves said they stood a short distance from the counter, and after being told that the protocol details had been completed, he left the area.
“Nobody asked anything. I just put up. Keith and I stood up, talking. Nobody asked us anything. So I thought (what) was required was just visual identification.
“The only inconvenience is that I drank black coffee earlier that morning. When I got back, it was cold, and I just had to get another one. I mean, I understand the government of Guyana has some problems because of how AA deals with them. I could understand the government of Guyana raising it from the standpoint of how heads of government may be treated or whoever.
“I don’t know the whole history. I understand there’s something there, but it’s the first time AA ever requested me anywhere to come and turn up at the counter when I travel as Prime Minister,” Gonsalves said.
He said he did not inquire about the situation, “but I understand some people taking different sides of the story (and) that one set of people saying it’s gross disrespect to our leaders. Other people are saying, ‘well, what happened? Ralph and Rowley think they are gods”.
“Well, I don’t think I’m a god. It’s not water off my back. And I certainly didn’t take it as any mark of disrespect to me. We have so many global challenges in our countries and the region. That is the least of my concern.
“I know it’s an important matter for the Guyana government, and I can understand how they feel and that they are raising it, and I’m not telling them not to raise it. But in as much as you asked me, the only thing for me, I was interrupted having my cup of coffee, and by the time I went back, it was cold,” Gonsalves said.
While he agreed what occurred in Guyana was “unusual,” Gonsalves said he wanted to clarify that “I am not knocking the Guyana government. I am saying they have their history with them, and there’s an issue which they’re taken up to clarify, but I, as Ralph, was no sweat off my nose.
He said that for those who have raised the situation as “gross disrespect, I don’t feel too easily offended and disrespected. I have my feet well planted on the ground.
“And on the other hand, there are those who feel well, ‘Yes. Who Ralph thinks he is, who Keith Rowley thinks he is, let them go like everybody else. Well, I’m flesh and blood like everybody else. But I’m also the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Keith is the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. I’m just mentioning facts, but if somebody thinks that somehow being Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines went to my head and made me feel in some way that I will think that this is gross disregard of Ralph, no man, none of that.”
and then 