WITH all English eyes and ears on the second visit by Royal Family Princes to the Caribbean this year to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th year as Monarch of Britain and the Commonwealth, not many Caribbean media noticed Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali had flown 4,000 miles across the Atlantic to London.
Or, for that matter, that the leader of the largest Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member-state met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson; or that President Ali loudly said in London that Britain may sooner than later offer the Caribbean an elusive ‘Apology’ for slavery.
But it all did happen – and was reported in the UK and to the rest of the world by Britain’s SkyNews.
According to an April 29 article headlined, ‘Guyana president calls for meaningful apology over slavery after meeting Boris Johnson’ by SkyNews reporter Shamaan Freeman-Powell, “Guyana’s president has called for an apology from the UK over its role in the transatlantic slave trade.”
President Ali explained that a decision calling for reparations over “one of the greatest atrocities in human history” had been taken by all Caribbean nations since 2013, noting: “That suffering was not only immense, it was generational. And a lot of wealth was derived from the suffering…”
The Guyana leader’s London trip and quoted comments came after two Royal Couples visited the region in two months, where they faced anti-colonial and pro-Reparations protesters demanding apologies and reparations from the British government for its participation in the slave trade.
Since 14 CARICOM leaders called for Reparations in 2013 to be preceded by “A Full and Formal Apology,” successive British Prime Ministers – from David Cameron to Theresa May to Boris Johnson — have steadfastly refused to entertain the calls for Reparatory Justice or to apologise, instead opting to express Royal sorrow and regret for “atrocities” they admit “never should have happened…”
Those words flowed from the mouths of Prince Charles and Prince William, respectively, in Barbados and Jamaica in March and April, expressing the Royal Family’s willingness to say slavery was bad, but not to apologise for participating, which would be an admission of guilt and willingness to atone.
President Ali says the CARICOM call for an apology needs to be addressed by Britain, as he believes “the conversation is getting closer” to concentration on “an apology.”
Explaining why ‘A Full and Formal Apology’ is the first item on CARICOM’s 10-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice, President Ali told SkyNews what the leaders of the former British and European colonies in the West Indies and South America want is “not a simple apology…”
Instead, President Ali said, “It has to have great depth and meaning.”
“And,” he added, “in my view and looking at the latest announcements, I think they’re heading closer to that position.”
The President said his optimism was based on CARICOM’s insistence on pursuing the common goal together and putting in place the formal and institutional structures to ensure continuity beyond regime change.
Referring to the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), he said, “We have established a committee in the region that is looking at this, because we understand the region needs to have a common position.”
As a result, he added, they’ve been able to “advance the process.”
By the end of the two Royal Tours this year, Antigua & Barbuda, Belize and Jamaica said they were ready to follow Barbados and become republics, which would put an end to the Queen being their monarch and constitutional Head of State.
CARICOM has five republics, including French-speaking Haiti and Dutch-speaking Suriname, which don’t belong to the British Commonwealth; but Guyana became a republic in 1970, followed by Trinidad & Tobago in 1976 and in 1978 Dominica became an independent republic (Commonwealth of Dominica) with its own president, followed by Barbados in November 2021.
President Ali said CARICOM member-states seeking reparations are united by their common European colonial past “and we cannot distance ourselves from that history.”
He said more CARICOM nations were moving towards Republic status “to demonstrate their full independence” and “walk on a new path” not to completely cut all ties with Britain and Europe, but “to be treated as equals.”
The CARICOM Secretariat, which is responsible for implementation of the Heads-of-Governments’ decision on Reparations, is based in Guyana; and the reparations movement there remains alive and well since the Donald Ramotar administration joined other CARICOM leaders in 2013 to issue the common call for reparations from Britain and Europe for Slavery and Native Genocide.
It was also under Ramotar’s PPP/Civic Administration that a National Reparations Committee was formed and an impressive monument to the August 17, 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion was erected along the iconic Seawall, in Georgetown.
Guyana’s population is also almost evenly split between descendants of enslaved Africans and victims of involuntary Indian indenture, also with a lively indigenous community comprising nine nations of the South American country’s First Peoples.
Apart from having an active and well-funded government-appointed national reparations body that meets weekly, Guyana is also home to Ikemba, a Youth-for-Reparations entity also funded by CARICOM, while the national committee organises continuous activities to commemorate the United Nations Decade for People of African Descent.
Caribbean Commonwealth states with the Queen as their monarch that were visited by the two Royal Couples are all signatories to CARICOM’s call for reparations from Britain, but none of the leaders they met are known to have said anything privately or officially about reparations, instead hinting publicly their intent to pursue republicanism.
But the Queen isn’t Guyana’s monarch and its elected President is the only leader to have told the British, in London, that with 12 former colonies and 14 independent Caribbean nations calling on Britain to atone for its profitable role in Slavery and the TransAtlantic Slave Trade — which the United Nations declared a Crime Against Humanity in 2001 — the time for Apology and Atonement is now!