CARTER DESERVES NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Paul Nehru Tennassee
Paul Nehru Tennassee
President James Earl Carter Jr. was born October 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia. He was the 39th President of the USA during 1977 and 1981. On his graduation in 1946 from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, he and Rosalyn Smith tied the knot. They are the parents of three sons and one daughter.
President Carter won the Nobel Prize in 2002. He earned it because he is an authentic, caring, humble, honest statesman and human being. Usually, statesmen are not known for such outstanding qualities. Undoubtedly, he is an exception. He deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
“In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international co-operation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development,” the Nobel citation observed.
I had the privilege to meet and observe Jimmy Carter closely on two occasions. As one of the key co-founders of the Carter Center, he was instrumental in the mediation between the dictatorship of Guyana and the leadership of the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) of which I was one of the co-leaders. Guyana then had a dictatorship based on four fraudulent elections. By 1990, it had reached a point where the peaceful struggles of the Guyanese political opposition had reached the apex. One more fraudulent election and the country would have undoubtedly degenerated into violence, death and misery comparable to some of the worst experiences in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe, where dictatorships have committed crimes against humanity.
President Carter was able through persuasion to convince the then President of Guyana to permit reforms that allowed free and fair elections in 1992 and facilitated peaceful regime-change in that country. After the 1992 elections, he did not walk away from Guyana, but returned to assist the elected government with its national development plan. Since then, Guyana has had two elections that were free and fair due to the continuous work of the Carter Center.
He traverses the globe and has observed elections in Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. Recently, he was in Cuba and Venezuela. He was audacious to recognize publicly the Valera Project which contained the signatures of Cubans inside Cuba asking for a referendum for free and fair elections. As a WCL election observer of the elections in Indonesia, I saw the active presence of the Carter Center. Jimmy Carter and his Center’s monitoring of elections worldwide have contributed to the democratization process in many countries.
The most recent occasion when I had the opportunity to observe the Nobel Peace Prize winner was earlier this year in Monterrey, Mexico, where the United Nations held a global conference on Financing For Development (FFD). I participated in a Roundtable with him and others that dealt with the problems of developing countries. President Carter made an impassioned and humane plea for increased aid for developing countries, particularly Africa. He also focused on the AIDS pandemic in Africa. It is known that Jimmy Carter and the father of Bill Gates did a mission to Africa to assist with the problem of AIDS.
In a statement, the Nobel Laureate said: “My concept of human rights has grown to include not only the rights to live in peace, but also to adequate health care, shelter, food, and to economic opportunity. I hope this award reflects a universal acceptance and even embrace of this broad-based concept of human rights. (The Carter Center’s Web site)
In my research on the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees (NAPFE’s) history, I also know that during his Presidency, the union received several invitations for events at the White House. On one occasion, his staff consulted the NAPFE on the change from Civil Service Commission to Office of Personnel Management. During his Presidency, he placed human rights on the agenda of the USA foreign policy. Both in America and abroad, Jimmy Carter did not just talk about democracy, he also practiced it. Jimmy Carter is one of the world’s most outstanding Ambassadors for democracy and human rights.
President Carter won the Nobel Prize in 2002. He earned it because he is an authentic, caring, humble, honest statesman and human being. Usually, statesmen are not known for such outstanding qualities. Undoubtedly, he is an exception. He deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
“In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international co-operation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development,” the Nobel citation observed.
I had the privilege to meet and observe Jimmy Carter closely on two occasions. As one of the key co-founders of the Carter Center, he was instrumental in the mediation between the dictatorship of Guyana and the leadership of the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) of which I was one of the co-leaders. Guyana then had a dictatorship based on four fraudulent elections. By 1990, it had reached a point where the peaceful struggles of the Guyanese political opposition had reached the apex. One more fraudulent election and the country would have undoubtedly degenerated into violence, death and misery comparable to some of the worst experiences in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe, where dictatorships have committed crimes against humanity.
President Carter was able through persuasion to convince the then President of Guyana to permit reforms that allowed free and fair elections in 1992 and facilitated peaceful regime-change in that country. After the 1992 elections, he did not walk away from Guyana, but returned to assist the elected government with its national development plan. Since then, Guyana has had two elections that were free and fair due to the continuous work of the Carter Center.
He traverses the globe and has observed elections in Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. Recently, he was in Cuba and Venezuela. He was audacious to recognize publicly the Valera Project which contained the signatures of Cubans inside Cuba asking for a referendum for free and fair elections. As a WCL election observer of the elections in Indonesia, I saw the active presence of the Carter Center. Jimmy Carter and his Center’s monitoring of elections worldwide have contributed to the democratization process in many countries.
The most recent occasion when I had the opportunity to observe the Nobel Peace Prize winner was earlier this year in Monterrey, Mexico, where the United Nations held a global conference on Financing For Development (FFD). I participated in a Roundtable with him and others that dealt with the problems of developing countries. President Carter made an impassioned and humane plea for increased aid for developing countries, particularly Africa. He also focused on the AIDS pandemic in Africa. It is known that Jimmy Carter and the father of Bill Gates did a mission to Africa to assist with the problem of AIDS.
In a statement, the Nobel Laureate said: “My concept of human rights has grown to include not only the rights to live in peace, but also to adequate health care, shelter, food, and to economic opportunity. I hope this award reflects a universal acceptance and even embrace of this broad-based concept of human rights. (The Carter Center’s Web site)
In my research on the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees (NAPFE’s) history, I also know that during his Presidency, the union received several invitations for events at the White House. On one occasion, his staff consulted the NAPFE on the change from Civil Service Commission to Office of Personnel Management. During his Presidency, he placed human rights on the agenda of the USA foreign policy. Both in America and abroad, Jimmy Carter did not just talk about democracy, he also practiced it. Jimmy Carter is one of the world’s most outstanding Ambassadors for democracy and human rights.