Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has led an historic appeal for reparatory justice in the Caribbean and Latin America.
In his capacity of President of CELAC, reparations for native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies were placed on the table and in the final declaration of EU-CELAC summit, it was acknowledged in number ten of the declaration.
Twenty-seven European Union member states have acknowledged that slavery was a crime against humanity and “underline our full support to the related principles and elements contained in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.”
“We acknowledge and profoundly regret the untold suffering inflicted on millions of men, women and children as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. We including the acknowledgment that slavery and the slave trade, including the transatlantic slave trade…,” the declaration read.
In an Interview with the API, Dr. Gonsalves said this in and of itself was a historic moment in the movement towards reparations.
“I simply reiterated that there is a legacy of underdevelopment which can be traced to native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies, that legacy can has contemporary manifestations in matters which we address in the sustainable development goals … and that there has to be a special carve out in respect of countries which have suffered from native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies,” the Prime Minister said.