At a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), held on Wednesday, November 16, 2005, diplomats from the hemisphere paid tribute to the late Edmund Hawkins Lake, KGN, CMG., who served as Antigua and Barbuda's first Permanent Representative to the organization, from 1982 to 1990.

The Chair of the Permanent Council, Dr. Izben Williams, who is also the Permanent Representative of St. Kitts and Nevis to the OAS, led his colleague diplomats in a moment of silence in memory of the veteran Antiguan politican, diplomat and statesman. Chairman Williams used the occasion to recall the remarkable and distinguished political, economic and social development of the hemisphere, when he served as Antigua and Barbuda's Permanent Representative to the OAS.

The Dean of the OAS Corps of Ambassadors, Ambassador Denis Antoine of Grenada, speaking on behalf of CARICOM Representatives, said that Mr. Lake was an accomplished diplomat who represented his country and the region with distinction. Glowing tributes, given on behalf of their governments, also came from Ambassadors of the United States, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua.

In her tribute to Edmund Lake, Antigua and Barbuda's Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the OAS, Her Excellency, Deborah-Mae Lovell, spoke about the wealth of experience that he brought to the post of Ambassador, during his tenure in Washington, D.C. According to Ambassador Lovell, Lake's vast experience and the high esteem in which he was held, won the recognition and respect of his peers, not only at the OAS, but also at other multilateral bodies as well. The veteran Antiguan and Barbudan diplomat also said that, within the Inter-American System, Mr. Lake would be remembered most for his staunch defense of human rights in our hemisphere, especially the rights of minority populations in our region. "The people of Antigua and Barbuda will forever be grateful to Edmund Lake for the path he blazed for our country in politics, diplomacy and international relations", Ambassador Lovell concluded.

Edmund Hawkins Lake was Antigua and Barbuda's first resident Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representatives to the Organization of Amirican States. He received his instrument of appointment shortly after the country gained its independence from Britain in November 1981, and he assumed his duties in Washington, D.C., early 1982.