Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
It's very hilarious among (from left) Ambassador Maxine Roberts, Venezuelan Ambassador Noel Martinez and Chinese Ambassador Zhenyu Zhao, at the Venezuelan National Day reception, held at Norbury Drive, Norbrook, on Wednesday, July 5. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
TODAY BEING July 14, those fabulous people of Western Europe, known as the French, celebrate their Independence Day, known as Bastille Day.
There was one very renowned French Minister of Culture who, when Bastille Day fell on a Sunday some time ago, requested that the day be celebrated either the Monday following the Sunday or the Friday before. Well, it is now a famous refrain among true Francophiles and the French themselves, that Bastille Day is July 14 and whether the 14th is a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or any other day, Bastille Day is celebrated on Bastille Day!
Anyway, international hotelier, and general manager of the tres chic Royal Plantation Hotel and Spa in Ocho Rios, bon vivant and host extraordinaire Peter Fraser, celebrates his birthday!
My daahlings, it will be a fab affair made much more so because of the intimacy engendered by the critically hand-picked shortlist of friends asked to share in the celebrations.
Speaking of things diplomatic, there is the celebration of national days! Now, July 5 was the National Day of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and Venezuelans got together and celebrated the unification of the three regions over a century ago that came together and created the State of Venezuela.
'SWELLEGANT CELEBRATION'
In Kingston, the celebrations were hosted and headed by Venezuela's first citizen here, HE Ambassador Noel Martinez Ochoa, at his official residence in coveted upper St. Andrew, that was designed for gracious living in mind and consequentially, the ideal venue for what proved a truly 'swellegant celebration'!
Historically, Venezuela has always played a dynamic role in the region. Its liberator, the esteemed Simon Bolivar, not only a Latin American revolutionary inspiring other nations in the region to fight for their freedom, rose in stature to become a regional icon; his history will point out stints in neighbouring Haiti, and here in Jamaica, during the revolution and his exile.
Now, that period led to the historic Jamaican Letter, and a kinship between the people of both Jamaica and Venezuela that has not only survived the years and the whims and fancies of political ideologies and their tenures, but has seen the cementing of ties between the nations.
HISTORICAL TIES
And if evidence is ever needed about those historical ties, one needs to only drive over to the vicinity of Jamaica's National Heroes Park in Heroes Circle and there y'all will find a gleaming statue of the great Bolivar.
Well, my daahlings, to mark Venezuela's National Day two Tuesdays ago, HE Ambassador Martinez Ochoa; the embassy's Minister Counsellor, the very charming Madai Hernandez and Marcelo Munoz and First Secretary Henry Moytones, along with the support of their support staff, played host to a truly fabulously relaxing and invigorating cocktail reception, to mark their country's 195th Independence Anniversary!
It was clear that comfort and haute-style were given primary considerations here in the planning and execution of this celebration. And as they say: 'what you put in, is what you get out.' And when style and elegance are your main ingredients, not even le enfant terrible and the spectre that follows her was enough to put a damper on what was truly a flawlessly conceived and executed reception!
SIMPLY WONDERFUL OUTING
From the reception line headed by Ambassador Martinez Ochoa, that gathered at the entrance to his official residence, and ushered guests on to the rolling lawns poolside, of the residence, where a beaming young miss handed arriving guests little tokens of the occasion, to the café style resting tables that dotted the lawns - it all spoke haute-style and nothing else and it made for a simply wonderful outing!
Ambassador Martinez Ochoa, (who spoke alternately through an interpreter, and in his native tongue, as well as in English) gave a refreshing and educational speech, that placed in context his country's place and relationship with his Caribbean neighbours, as well as the historical formation of the Bolivarian Republic.
Among those spotted include Commerce Science and Technology Minister, Phillip Paulwell; Junior Foreign Minister Senator Delano Franklyn; Ambassador Douglas Saunders; Under Secretary Margareth Jobson; Ambassador Maxine Roberts; Dean of the Diplomatic Corp HE High Commissioner and Mrs. Cedric Harper; American Ambassador HE Brenda LaGrange Johnson; Canadian High Commissioner HE Claudio Valle and his fab wife Mrs. Louise Valle; Chinese Ambassador HE Zhenyu Zhao and Madam Zhao; British High Commissioner HE Jeremy Creswell and his tres-fab companion Dr. Barbara Munske; French Ambassador HE Francis Hurtut; German Ambassador HE Volker Schlegel; Spanish Ambassador HE Jesus Silva; Japanese Ambassador HE Hiroshi Sakurai and wife Kinuko Sakurai; Indian High Commissioner HE Kailash Agrawal; South African High Commissioner HE Advocate Faith D' Radebe and husband Jabulani Radebe; Mexican Ambassador HE Leonora Rueda; Chilean Ambassador HE Alfanso Silva; Ambassador of the Dominican Republic HE Filomena Navarro; Ambassador Matthew Beaubrun.
Also spotted charge d'affaires for Cuba, Mr. and Mrs. Igor Hevia; from Trinidad and Tobago, Carvin Pettier; Colombians Mr. and Mrs. Jorge Morales; from Haiti Max Alce; Brazil's Carlos Guedes; Juan Carlos and Mrs. Espinola from the U.N.; Mr. and Mrs. Harold Robinson of the UNDP; UNAID's Representative Mrs. Miriam Maluwa; Mr. José Luis Ilabaca, deputy head of Mission at Embassy of Chile; Mrs. Maria Friedrich-Boerger and Mr. Anton Boerger, deputy head of Mission, German Embassy.
Present, too, were Mr. and Mrs. Christian Flores, Minister Counsellor, Dominican Republic; Mr. and Mrs. José Luis Delgado, Consul of Mexico; Mrs. Jean Hausser, Consul of Peru; Honorary Consul of Iceland Robert MacMillan; Mr. Michael Lyn and Mrs. Thalia Lyn, Honorary Consul of Thailand; Mrs. Irena Cousins, Poland; Mr. Yvon Desulme, Honorary Consul of Korea; Mrs. Lois Lake-Sherwood, Lithuania; Mrs. Clelia Barreto de Hunter, Ecuador; the lovely Myrtha Desulme; Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hanna; the charming Gilou Bauer; Mr. and Mrs. Pablo Meza; Mrs. Jacqueline McGregor Cox; Miss Mairi Sanz Manzo; Mrs. Betty McKenzie; Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Yap; the lovely Jackie Neilson; Knut Borstad and his companion Nelinda Machado.
