Gonsalves: Reparations is top issue

Former St Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has called for Caribbean leaders to press for slavery reparations from the United Kingdom and other European countries. He wants this to be the head topic at the next Commonwealth summit.

Leaders cannot ignore support for reparations resolution this November, said Gonsalves. It is “inconceivable” that reparatory justice from Britain for the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans will not be “front and centre” of the next Commonwealth leaders’ meeting, he said.

Gonsalves was recently in Jamaica to discuss the next steps of the “alive and growing” movement to advocate for reparations for hundreds of years of chattel slavery. The opposition leader was recently appointed an elder and adviser for the Repair Campaign, a social movement for reparatory justice founded by the Irish telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien.

Gonsalves was instrumental in setting up the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) reparations commission to support Caribbean governments’ call for recognition of the lasting legacy of colonialism and enslavement, and for reparative justice from former colonisers.

Addressing the argument from European nations that the world should not “dwell in the past,” Gonsalves argued that “the present is the past” because impacted nations continue to live with the profound legacies of historical underdevelopment.

He emphasised that while the enslaved individuals who directly suffered are no longer alive, the destructive legacies of their enslavement remain fully present today.

Gonsalves acknowledged that quantifying the financial cost of centuries of slavery is complex, but he pointed to existing economic studies that have already calculated the damages.

He said the leaders of the 56-country Commonwealth grouping, which includes 33 Caribbean and African nations, could not ignore the strong momentum towards a reparations resolution.

Between the 15th and 19th centuries more than 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported to the Americas and sold into slavery.

During his visit to Jamaica, Gonsalves met the country’s culture and gender minister, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, who is leading its reparation movement.

Last year Caricom backed Jamaica’s decision to petition King Charles – its head of state – to request legal advice on reparations from the judicial committee of the privy council, the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth nations. Gonsalves said he hoped the king would support the Caribbean and Africa.