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As I walked to work one recent Wednesday morning, it seemed like everyone I passed on the road looked at me strangely. I had a good idea why. I had suddenly become a little curious, thanks to a man I met on a media tour of Barbados. He had sent a STAR employee a recording of our recent phone conversation—during which I provided him with details of an interview with a senior government official that I planned to publish, even though I didn’t believe a word he told me.
I also gave my Barbadian friend details of my private discussions with the publisher. I complained about discrimination at work and about how my salary was a pittance compared with that of less talented female colleagues. When he showed little interest, I changed the subject. I suggested that next time I was in Barbados, I would like to meet him somewhere less public than a café. This, of course, caught his attention. I summoned the Delilah in my soul and suggested that he should call me the next time he was in St. Lucia. It was easy enough to find an excuse to slip away for a few hours. His scathing account of our conversation also reached my husband.
Now that I have piqued your curiosity, dear reader, let me assure you that if my story about my Barbados acquaintance was true, I would not be employed by The Star any longer. But something close to my fabricated report did happen to Senator Ubaldus Raymond, who is in his 50s, and most Saint Lucians are now aware of it. Especially if you are a supporter of the opposition party, you have probably already dismissed Raymond’s continued denials, especially his claim that he was framed by blackmailers aided and abetted by a certain respectable MP.
Before introducing his guests on last week’s TALK show, host Rick Wayne also made a confession. “I never invite anyone to come on this show just to embarrass them,” he told the audience. “They can do it on their own. If tonight’s special guest, Senator Ubaldus Raymond, chooses to be dishonest in his answers, then, that is his intention.”
Raymond’s response was: “Well, first of all, I want to thank Rick for inviting me to the show tonight. I am not here to discuss the crimes committed by Ubaldos. I am not here to discuss the violation of anyone’s rights, except perhaps my own. I am not here to admit to any violation of the Constitution of Saint Lucia, which I have always respected.” He said he had no problem talking about the hottest topics of the day. He accepted the host’s invitation without hesitation because he had nothing to hide. “I have nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. I have not committed any crime, nor have I done anything that violates my oath of office.”
Of course, his audience will judge this. Raymond has to explain to his audience what happened while he was in Trinidad handling government business, which prompted the Attorney General’s Office to announce a related investigation. He said that he and nine other government employees went to Trinidad on an investigative mission related to the digitization of several government services. Four of them were invited to a weekend party on the eve of Trinidad Carnival (Monday and Tuesday). As reported by this newspaper two weeks ago, while in Trinidad, the senator was introduced to a woman with whom he had several telephone conversations, recordings of which were posted on social media and were rated by everyone as “obscene and disgusting”, but still worth sharing countless times.
When Rick Wayne asked Raymond how he felt about realizing that conversations he considered private had become irresistible subjects on the Internet, he responded, “I was surprised.” As for the widespread interest in some of the more private aspects of his life, he said he didn’t pay attention to them. Didn’t he consider the implications of his previous experience with two 18-year-old female students, who were less interested in the workings of government than in extortion, while on the phone with his sexy Trinidadian friend? He said he never thought about the young women “because I believed that what happened between us was a private conversation, and people have private conversations all the time.” That’s true. But his salacious interactions with students on WhatsApp two years ago probably never crossed his mind, either.
Personal note: I am always aware of the power of technology when using the internet, even with people I know. (Raymond has only met the Trinidadian polymath in person once, according to reliable sources.) With the senator in the air, I thought I would be more cautious about using my phone after that experience with the student in 2017. But it’s easy for me to say that when I don’t know what upset Raymond. Yes, I did say that bell!
Moreover, as Raymond said on TALK: “If we have to go down this road, no member of Congress can stand. None. There are people who have done things, and are still doing things, and they will never be caught. In fact, some of them have done criminal things…” The usually cautious host interrupted him, perhaps to avoid a possible defamation lawsuit. Speech On the surface, some say that Raymond put his party colleagues in danger, but he uses the words of another suicidal man: “The people I mentioned know themselves!”
Never mind that he believes what happened to him “could happen to anyone else,” the government announced on Monday that Sen. Ubaldus Raymond had tendered his resignation.
Shortly before the unsurprising public announcement, Senator Fortuna Belrose told curious reporters: “Social media can do whatever they want, use it how they want, and when they want. We have no rules.” Raymond publicly thanked his wife, church and female friends, who he said had his back, even as they encouraged him to stay strong.
For his part, Prime Minister Alain Chastanet said Raymond had shown his commitment to the country during his time in office, had rendered great service to the nation and had never wavered in his commitment to public office. ” All of this sounds like a prime minister giving a speech at an awards ceremony rather than a eulogy at a graveside.
The above first appeared on STAR under a different title on May 4, 2019. Last week, several promos appeared on the Internet, including video clips of what may be recent interviews, promising new insights into the legend of Ubaldus Raymond. The impression is that by the evening of Tuesday, July 16, the popular Untold Stories The show will show viewers previously unknown aspects of the country’s most notorious political scandal. So far, public reaction to the latest episode has been mixed but swift. For the one-eyed “He’s Dead” brigade, the so-called Ubaldus affair is a service to the opposition United Workers’ Party. Others see it as an attempt to divert public attention away from the controversies currently plaguing the government of Philip J. Pierre. As is often the case, all sides play up the subcutaneous fat while the heart of the matter – allegations of extortion, damning voice notes and texts, and how police issues involving government men were resolved through mediation – remain largely ignored. —Rick Wayne
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