Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has defended the decision of CARICOM countries to seek reparation for native genocide and African slavery from Europe.
Addressing the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) last Wednesday, Prime Minister Gonsalves urged the hemispheric body to assist the region in pushing the reparation process forward.
He said Europe, and in particular Britain, France and Holland perpetrated “historic wrongs against humanity in the Caribbean during a period in excess of 200 years between the 17th and 19th centuries”.
Dr. Gonsalves said the need for reparation should not be conceived as a strategic confrontation against these European nations, “although it is for us in the Caribbean a defining issue in the 21st century for justice, reconciliation and the righting of historic wrongs.”
He said if the “mature conversation” does not yield success, then CARICOM is prepared to take the matter before the International Court of Justice.
