- 2 years ago
Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, states that CELAC is a space for dialogue, cooperation and solidarity among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and that it must defend the principles of self-determination, non-interference and peace. teleSUR
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00:00 (Applause)
00:04 Thank you very much, Your Excellencies.
00:08 Permit me first to indicate that the two young men whom you have seen here,
00:15 they are homegrown talent.
00:18 But in our community, we may not have the requisite infrastructure
00:25 to develop formally the homegrown talent.
00:30 So in each of those cases, and there are several other cases,
00:36 these young men and young women who are skilled in the field of music,
00:41 these two are graduates in music from the Edna Manley School of Music of Jamaica.
00:51 This is one way in which we carry out our functional cooperation
00:55 within Latin America and the Caribbean.
00:57 In the same way we send our students to Cuba and elsewhere.
01:06 Excellencies, my comments today are made under the title,
01:16 "SELAC - Faith, Fresh Hope and Love."
01:26 So my dear brothers and sisters, my friends of our Latin American and Caribbean civilization,
01:36 and other special guests who are here,
01:40 on behalf of the government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
01:44 I welcome each of you to our archipelagic homeland of 32 islands,
01:50 a magnificent component of our Latin American and Caribbean civilizations.
01:56 Please be assured that it is also your home of faith, fresh hope, love and solidarity.
02:08 Our landscape and seascape resides permanently the spirit of the indomitable Joseph Chateauillet,
02:19 in the same heroic pantheon alongside Toussaint Louverture,
02:24 Simon Bolivar, José MartÃ, Fidel, Chávez and Cheddy Jagan,
02:31 and other titans, not of mythology, but of lived struggles for our people's humanization,
02:40 and the integration of what Martà simply called "Our America,"
02:46 a geographic locale of 33 independent countries,
02:52 that have long together, since 2011, as the community of Latin American and Caribbean states.
03:03 St. Vincent and the Grenadines, your host,
03:07 holds an especial place in the historiography of our America.
03:15 There are several notable features of this small but special land, of which you may not be aware.
03:24 Permit me to refer to some.
03:28 First, St. Vincent and the Grenadines had the shortest period of the enslavement of African peoples in our hemisphere,
03:40 from 1764 to 1838.
03:45 Our rugged terrain and the militancy of our indigenous people, the Kalinago and the Garifuna,
03:54 kept colonialism at bay for over 200 years.
03:59 Secondly, St. Vincent and the Grenadines had a population of free Africans
04:05 before enslaved African bodies arrived in 1764.
04:12 Among these free Africans who were here before slavery
04:18 were runaway slaves, so-called runaway slaves, from Barbados,
04:22 and some who survived a terrible shipwreck.
04:26 They were embraced by the indigenous Kalinago,
04:30 who came to our country over 2,000 years earlier from the Orinoco.
04:38 This is a land of Silac, from the Orinoco.
04:42 Their offspring formed a distinct nation, the Garifuna.
04:48 The Garifuna are the only people of African descent in the hemisphere
04:54 who were never enslaved and never submitted to enslavement.
05:00 Thirdly, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the last and longest continuous struggle,
05:08 a 31-year guerrilla war against European colonialism occurred,
05:14 from 1764 to 1795,
05:18 in which Latoyere, our resistance was defeated by British colonialism,
05:25 and our leader, our sole national hero, the right excellent Joseph Chateau,
05:31 was ambushed and killed.
05:33 In victory, British colonialism carried out a large-scale genocide
05:39 against the Kalinago and Garifuna,
05:42 isolated some 5,000 of our patriots on a nearby inhospitable island of Baliso,
05:53 B-A-L-L-I-C-E-A-U-X,
05:56 populated only by lizards and iguanas.
06:02 Within six months, one half of these 5,000 patriots died
06:08 from a lack of food and water and a sordid disease.
06:13 The remainder were forcibly transported to the Bay of Honduras on Rotten Island.
06:21 From there, they and their descendants established Garifuna communities
06:27 in Belize, in Guatemala, in Nicaragua, and in Honduras.
06:34 This land, which we call St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
06:39 is known to them and our indigenous people as Uremene.
06:46 It is blessed by our ancestors and their struggles,
06:50 and it is watered by their blood, their sweat, and their tears.
06:56 That is why, in addition to singing the anthem in English this morning,
07:02 there was a verse which was sung in appreciation and in respect
07:07 for our Kalinago and Garifuna brothers and sisters.
07:12 It was sung in the language of the Garifuna people.
07:16 [applause]
07:21 Our inheritances are special.
07:25 We are metaphorically a symphony.
07:29 We are the songs of the indigenous people,
07:32 the Kalinago of the Orinoco and the Garifuna.
07:36 We are the rhythm of Africa, and we are the melody of Europe,
07:40 and we are the chords of Asia, and we are the homegrown lyrics of the Caribbean.
07:45 Like all symphonies, there are from time to time dissonances,
07:51 and we address our dissonances.
07:56 But we are indisputably an integrated whole.
08:00 We are part of an island and seaboard civilization,
08:05 a land of liberty, democracy, and progress,
08:10 made by our own hands and brains,
08:14 in solidarity with our friends and allies.
08:18 And we guard our independence and sovereignty jealously,
08:24 and we treasure solidarity.
08:28 Our silak was formed out of a confluence of predisposing and inducing circumstances.
08:36 And there are two persons who are here at the occasion,
08:41 prior to silak's formulation,
08:44 the original meeting in Bahia,
08:46 my dear brother Lula and myself.
08:51 My dear brother took a sabbatical,
08:54 and I have stayed on since then up to this period.
09:01 Our nation's common history of European conquest and settlement,
09:08 the monumental crimes of native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies,
09:14 the condition of indentured servitude,
09:18 the undemocratic gubernatorial governance arrangements of a rapacious colonialism,
09:25 the struggles for the reclamation of sovereign independence and popular democracy,
09:32 our contemporary battles against imperialism
09:36 and an iniquitous political economy of global monopoly capitalism,
09:41 of which my brother the Secretary General spoke,
09:45 our quest for sustainable development and inclusive societies,
09:50 and our geographical closeness have all conspired to predispose us towards creating silak.
09:58 The requisite glue of solidarity, of purpose and action,
10:03 in our contemporary times,
10:05 in pursuit of peace, justice, prosperity and security for all,
10:11 based on the popular will,
10:13 induced us to establish this celebrated regional integration mechanism, silak,
10:20 a community of sovereign states.
10:25 We gather in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for Silak's 8th Summit,
10:31 at a time of extraordinary global challenges, of great complexity,
10:36 awash with multiple contradictions.
10:39 These impact significantly on our America,
10:43 and specifically on our people's lives, living and production.
10:48 These externally sourced encumbrances and burdens,
10:52 which restrict or constrain the scope of action of our people,
10:58 are made more complicated by homegrown weaknesses, limitations, confusions and conflicts.
11:06 Despite our strengths and possibilities,
11:10 inclusive of those resident in the genius of our peoples,
11:15 even with our own burdensome travails and setbacks,
11:22 we have advanced commendably.
11:26 We, by and large, we are ordered societies,
11:32 with thriving civilizations,
11:36 and a material base reasonably supportive of uplifting lives and living.
11:44 We are thriving civilizations.
11:48 We do not need lessons from anybody,
11:53 about we having civilized life and living.
11:57 [Applause]
12:04 We in Silak have a road map for confronting meaningfully our challenges,
12:09 encumbrances, burdens, weaknesses and limitations.
12:13 And from our inherited and extant conditions,
12:18 we have set forth accordingly a package of policies and programs to advance our peoples' interests.
12:25 Our draft declaration of Kingstown, of nearly 100 paragraphs,
12:31 which I expect to be adopted unanimously today,
12:34 contains the necessary and desirable pathway on the 12 headings.
12:40 You have the declaration, I don't need to repeat those rubrics.
12:45 Additionally, there are 9 declarations on specific subjects,
12:50 which we expect to be adopted today.
12:53 Over the past year, since the election of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the pro-temporary presidency of Silak,
13:02 in January 2023,
13:05 relevant initiatives were undertaken within each of these broad frameworks.
13:10 The Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country reported earlier on these,
13:16 and you would have noticed that this very small country,
13:20 whom many persons doubted our capacity to do this job,
13:25 we had a very active year.
13:28 It is up to you to judge whether we did well or not.
13:31 It is still necessary, though, to summarize certain highlights
13:41 of functional cooperation, advocacy and mature regionalism,
13:47 including the platform for food security,
13:51 the push for enhanced air and sea transport,
13:55 the elaboration of the health sufficiency plan,
14:00 the proposal for the establishment of the Latin American and Caribbean Center
14:06 for the Development of Science, Technology and Innovation,
14:10 the joint promotion of an environment for open, secure, stable, accessible
14:15 and peaceful information and communications technologies,
14:20 the coordination of efforts to address the issues of climate change and disaster mitigation,
14:27 including the promotion of the Climate Adaptation and Comprehensive National Disaster Response Fund,
14:35 the FACRID of Silak, which Mexico and Argentina initiated,
14:41 and which we have put some resources, and I ask all members to put resources,
14:47 to this particular response fund,
14:50 and the consideration of the Caribbean Sea as a special area
14:54 in the context of sustainable development.
14:57 And then there is the initiative of our country
15:00 to activate the technical working group on Afro-descendants of Silak,
15:06 and enhanced activism for reparatory justice,
15:11 including the promotion of CARICOM's Ten Point Plan for reparations,
15:16 and the activism in maintaining the Caribbean as a zone of peace,
15:20 including the sterling efforts to reduce tensions on matters consequential to the border controversy
15:27 between Guyana and Venezuela, which resulted in the Argyle Declaration of December 14, 2023.
15:36 In the latter regard, that is to say of the Argyle Declaration,
15:40 Silak and CARICOM, without any involvement whatsoever from any foreign source,
15:48 because the foreign sources in Guyana and Venezuela have been seeking to create confusion,
15:54 but without any foreign involvement,
15:59 Silak and CARICOM, in solidarity with Guyana and Venezuela,
16:05 convened a Dialogue for Peace at Argyle.
16:08 This homegrown effort by Silak and CARICOM has had many architects and builders,
16:16 but St. Vincent and the Grenadines is duty-bound to recognize the extraordinary contributions
16:22 to this process of peace-building by President Lula of Brazil,
16:27 President Petro of Colombia,
16:34 President Diaz-Canel of Cuba,
16:40 Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt of Dominica and the Chair of CARICOM at the time,
16:48 and Prime Minister Mia Motley of Barbados.
16:53 However, without the wisdom and maturity of two highly esteemed leaders,
16:59 my dear friends and brothers, two combatants for peace,
17:04 President Ali of Guyana and President Maduro of Argyle,
17:08 without them, the Pact of Argyle would not have been possible.
17:14 We thank, too, the tremendous effort provided by a great man of peace,
17:19 Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
17:25 Excellencies,
17:28 Over the past year of our pro tempore presidency,
17:33 we have come to realize, more than ever,
17:37 that although the shortest distance between two points geometrically is a straight line,
17:44 mountains, especially political mountains, cannot be scaled by way of a straight line.
17:53 It is necessary, if not always desirable, to make zigs and zags in the ascent of any political mountain,
18:03 while bearing in mind the goal is to arrive at the mountaintop.
18:08 Thus, the zigs and zags must never restrict us in a cul-de-sac or a dead-end.
18:15 So, compromises in a complex world are required in our pursuit of peace, prosperity and security for all.
18:29 The understanding of all this is fundamental to life and living in the real world,
18:36 suffused, as it is, with contradictions galore, which are to be resolved, or at least muted.
18:45 Having understood this matter, we then apply our hearts to wisdom in arriving at a mature judgment.
18:55 This has been a major lesson of history, including that lesson taught in the sacred texts of the Hebrew Bible and the Holy Quran.
19:07 Accordingly, it is distressingly painful to witness live on television the intransigence of the government of Israel
19:19 and its small and dwindling number of defenders in the perpetration of genocide against the people of Gaza and the Palestinians generally.
19:30 [Applause]
19:36 In our draft declaration, we are demanding, among other things, an immediate ceasefire,
19:44 ample humanitarian assistance, the observance of international law, a peaceful resolution of the conflict,
19:53 and a two-state solution, as repeatedly endorsed by the United Nations.
19:59 [Applause]
20:03 Similarly, the terrible ordeal in Ukraine must come to an end with negotiations for peace, prosperity and security.
20:10 [Audio break]
20:20 The continuation of this senseless war has the potential of leading humanity into a nuclear Armageddon.
20:31 In our region, our beloved Haiti, the land of L'Ouverture, continues to be in turmoil and conflict.
20:39 The government lacks popular legitimacy, and it has been ineffective.
20:45 One alarming statistic is that in January 2024, more Haitians, over 1,200, were killed in Haiti than Ukrainian combatants in the war with Russia.
21:00 The country is gripped by a political, humanitarian and security crisis.
21:09 The UN Security Council has adopted a framework for a resolution,
21:14 and the Caribbean community, of which Haiti is a member, is seeking, with Haitian stakeholders,
21:19 to fashion an appropriate political and governance path forward.
21:24 But at the end of the day, this is a matter profoundly for the Haitian people.
21:31 They are required to make judicious compromises, without compromising their own values, in the interests of the people of Haiti.
21:42 Perfection must not be made the enemy of a good transitional state in post, on the way to peace, security and a democratic way of life.
21:52 At the recent CARICOM meeting in Guyana, I am satisfied that the Prime Minister of Haiti has recognized what we are saying here.
22:05 And he has moved from a position, frankly, of what I consider to be intransigence, and he has made compromises.
22:16 It is now for other stakeholders in Haiti to make compromises on the governance question,
22:23 as we address, within the framework of the UN Security Council, the security and humanitarian and developmental dimensions.
22:33 Excellencies,
22:43 As the leader of a small, very small country, please permit me to state a few essentials, born of our experiences.
22:56 We tell everyone, especially those whose very essences prompt them to demand subservience from us.
23:11 Those whose instincts drive them towards imperial or hegemonic rule,
23:18 that this country, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, will never permit any other country to dictate to us.
23:30 We will never allow anyone to choose for us our friends and allies.
23:39 And we do not, for those who think that we can be bought with blandishments,
23:52 we do not put a "For Sale" sign in our metaphoric shop window. Undeterminedly, we are not for sale.
24:02 As a small country, I need to emphasize this, so that the message can get clear, that we are not like that.
24:12 We, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, are not better than anyone, but no one is better than us.
24:21 We are small, but we have a history of authenticity, of struggle, of achievement.
24:30 We possess a nobility. We are a special part of the great Latin American and Caribbean civilizations.
24:39 And we have a trajectory for further ennoblement.
24:43 We rely on the genius of our peoples in a continued quest for self-mastery,
24:49 but always in solidarity with like-minded peoples the world over.
24:54 We are friends of all, and we strive for a different and better world.
25:01 Later today, St. Vincent and the Grenadines passes the torch of the PTP of SILAC to the Republic of Honduras,
25:09 and its leader of inestimable value and virtue, President Xiomara Castro.
25:16 On January 23, 2023, in Buenos Aires, President Castro proclaimed defiantly, "We are the resistance."
25:29 I understood fully what she meant.
25:32 And I am most pleased to be led by her for the next year in SILAC.
25:37 And it is expected that Honduras will be succeeded by the Republic of Colombia sometime in March 2025.
25:48 I want to congratulate my dear comrade-sister, and thereafter, my dear brother, President Petro.
25:56 [Applause]
26:02 I thank all those who have assisted St. Vincent and the Grenadines over the 13 months of our leadership of SILAC.
26:14 I make one final plea to my colleagues gathered here.
26:20 Let us over the next year fashion a permanent and nimble secretariat for SILAC,
26:29 so as to ensure that its monumental tasks in this challenging global environment be optimally addressed.
26:40 As in biology, structure follows function.
26:46 There are functions to be performed by SILAC, which cannot adequately be performed with the current structure.
26:56 I am calling for us to give serious and urgent consideration for a permanent and nimble secretariat for SILAC to carry out its requisite functions.
27:10 [Applause]
27:15 As I conclude, the words of the distinguished poet of resistance of Guyana, Martin Carter, ring in my ears.
27:24 And so, if you see me looking at your hands, listening when you speak, or marching in your ranks, you must know,
27:40 I do not sleep to dream, but dream to change the world.
27:47 In SILAC, we must not sleep to dream, but dream to change the world for the better.
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