Former Foreign Minister Rashleigh Jackson dies

Last Updated on Thursday, 1 September 2022, 23:03 by Writer

Internationally recognised Guyana’s former Foreign Minister, Rashleigh Jackson died Thursday night at his residence.

“Guyana has lost one of its most brilliant, honest and capable sons. I think Rashleigh Jackson was probably one of the most strategic thinkers I have met,” People’s National Congress Reform and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton told Demerara Waves Online News. “Guyana has lost one of its greatest sons. It’s a loss to our party and it’s a loss to Guyana,” he added.

He was 93 years old.

Mr Norton described Mr Jackson as someone who had a “high level of integrity and honesty”. “He was one of the few ministers in this country who operated in a way that if he felt that something occurred that demanded his resignation, he resigned,” Mr Norton said.

Mr Jackson was remembered for his major contributions to Guyana’s foreign policy especially in the areas of the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, the liberation of Southern Africa as well as in negotiations at the level of the United Nations where he also served as Guyana’s Permanent Representative.

On a personal level, Mr Norton—a former foreign service officer—spoke of Mr Jackson as someone he watched and learned from and who “also pointed out critical things to you” and made friends and ensured that Guyana was protected by diplomacy.

Mr Jackson was one of several diplomats who had sat on a bipartisan foreign relations committee.