Ambassador Bernal hailed by politicians and academics

Tributes are continuing to flow for Ambassador Richard Bernal, who died suddenly on Wednesday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith said he was the quintessential negotiator, skilled in his advocacy for small economies.

"He was unstinting in the service he gave to the Government and people of Jamaica, representing the country in many regional and international engagements, always with keen insights and avid interest in preserving the integrity of diplomacy. He earned an admirable reputation for his clinical analyses on regionalism and for his commitment to promoting the higher virtues of regional integration," she said.

Former Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips said he was bereft of a lifelong friendship which started years ago at Jamaica College.

"To travel with Richard, whether in New York, London, Mexico City or any other global cultural centre, was an inimitable experience of itself.  He knew where every renown Jazz Combo was playing and was knowledgeable of the location of all the Art Exhibitions on display in that city, or the Plays whether of modern or classical genre were being produced. He persisted in the pursuit of all these cultural interests throughout his entire life," Phillips stated in his tribute.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said Bernal was a quintessential product of The University of the West Indies.

He said: "He was instinctively a regionalist and dedicated his considerable academic research and publishing to the regional development agenda. He was an outstanding scholar who committed his extensive internationally accumulated knowledge to the business of crafting the progressive Caribbean consciousness. He was a public advocate of the social justice principle and contributed to the democratisation of the postcolonial culture. He was a skilled and effective teacher and enjoyed the art of academic communication."

And the P.J. Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy where Bernal was a Research Fellow said the Institute "recognises the stellar and indispensable contribution which Ambassador Bernal has made to the work of the Institute from its planning, inception and up to the very day of his sudden and untimely passing.” 

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