Don’t hold your breath

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - The issue of reparations was once more in the news last week when Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines gave a lecture on celebration of the 50th anniversary of the African Unity/African Union and the recognition of Africa Year. His talk at the multi-Purpose Centre in St John’s was on the topic “The struggle for reparations: A Caribbean Imperative.”
Dr Gonsalves, a good socialist friend of the late Tim Hector, has often been referred to as the only non-African head of government to attend an African university. He is calling for CARICOM to place a “Commission on Reparations” on the agenda of its heads of government meeting scheduled for July. He also offered his own country as a venue to have preliminary discussions.
“If all of us in CARICOM are on the same page”, he is reported as saying, “it is going to be difficult to touch us”.