Be careful what you say, Mr Diplomat

Try telling the mother of a child whose son has been brutally tortured for weeks that the situation isn’t so bad, try telling people who are being targetted for kidnapping as though they were living in Rwanda that they should be "comfortable," try telling the family of an old-age pensioner that the cold blooded killing of their father that the situation is worse elsewhere, try telling a grieving wife and her two infants that their father who was kidnapped and beheaded that we are "dramatising" the situation, try telling a terrorised nation that has seen its crime rate soar over the past three years to become the worst the country’s history and that has made it one of the most unsafe countries in the world to live that you "feel comfortable," try telling a group of children playing steelpan in a panyard who were brutally gunned down killing one of their friends in the process that the diplomat said he is "comfortable," try telling the innocent people who were injured and narrowly escaped death by the recent bombings in the city that the situation is being sensationalised, try telling us all that despite the fact that our authorities at the highest level have a nefarious relationship with criminal elements and that the police forced is involved we should be like you and feel comfortable.

The diplomat reported to us "Since my arrival, I have travelled extensively throughout Port-of-Spain and I feel very comfortable." We will all feel like you your Excellency when we enjoy the security your diplomatic status provides and when our beloved nation earns the proud record such as yours as being one of the safest places to live. But then again maybe we should remember that your country’s development was due in no small part to the many bright and skilled immigrants fleeing conditions from developing countries such as ours. On behalf of the people of Trinidad and Tobago may I say that your comments as a guest to this country are an affront to us and as a new diplomant to this island you would be best advised to be more sensitive to and better informed on affairs and conditions that affect us so deeply.

GEORGE A LAQUIS

Chairman Committee for Social Transformation

Woodbrook