Leading the way in the fight for reparations, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said this country’s claim for reparatory justice is powerful.
The Prime Minister noted that given the peculiarities of the Vincentian experience, the case for reparations must go beyond a full apology to include addressing the legacies of underdevelopment caused by native genocide and slavery.
Dr. Gonsalves explained that as a consequence of colonialism and slavery, “the people who owned this land, as a consequence of colonialism, was put on the worst piece of land for Agricultural purposes and historically, the poverty in those communities has been the highest”.
The Prime Minister said that is why the Caricom Ten Point Plan on Reparations, include not only a full apology but an Indigenous people’s development programme, educational programmes, technology funding for repatriation to Africa, establishment of cultural institutes, the development of public health, enhancing of cultural exchanges, the right to development through the use of technology, and debt cancellation and monetary compensation.
St Vincent and the Grenadines led the regional call for reparations since 2013 and Dr. Gonsalves said he remains committed to the fight for reparations for native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies.
