| Remarks of the Chairman of the Permanent Council, Ambassador Swinburne Lestrade To the Protocolary Meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States In honour of Dr the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines
October 1st 2001 DR. THE HONORABLE RALPH GONSALVES, PRIME MINISTER OF SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, AND MRS. GONSALVES
MR. SECRETARY GENERAL
MR. ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL
AMBASSADORS
ALTERNATE REPRESENTATIVES
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
I AM THRILLED THAT MY FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS AS CHAIRMAN OF THE PERMANENT COUNCIL IS TO WELCOME THE HONOURABLE DR RALPH GONSALVES TO THIS PROTOCOLARY MEETING.
DURING HIS JOURNEY TO THE HIGH OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER, DR RALPH GONSALVES HAS GIVEN MUCH TO THE CARIBBEAN IN A VARIETY OF ROLES – AS STUDENT ACTIVIST; UNIVERSITY LECTURER; LAWYER; TRADE UNIONIST; WRITER, AND POLITICIAN. MANIFSTED IN ALL THESE CALLINGS WAS DR GONSALVES’ ABIDING CONCERN FOR PEOPLE, AND HIS UNSTINTING COMMITMENT TO FORGING A CARIBBEAN NATION. IF HIS STYLE HAS ALWAYS REFLECTED THE POPULAR TOUCH, HIS IDEALS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LOFTY, AND HIS GOALS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN NOT ONLY TO RAISE LIVING STANDARDS OF MEN AND WOMEN OF THE CARIBBEAN, BUT ALSO TO HAVE THE CARIBBEAN ASSUME ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE AMONG THE CIVILISATIONS OF THE WORLD. DR GONSALVES’ TRAINING, BACKGROUND AND STYLE MAKE HIM WELL SUITED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES AND THE CARFIBBEAN.
AS A STUDENT LEADER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES IN THE LATE 1960’S, DR GONSALVES DEMONSTRATED EARLY POLITICAL SAVVY AND COURAGE. TO THE IMAGE OF THE UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT BODY AS A SLEEPY DORMITORY OF ACADEMIC AND MATERIALISTIC AMBITION, WAS ADDED AN IMAGE OF SOCIAL CONCERN AND ACTIVISM.
IN THE THIRTY YEARS BETWEEN THOSE DAYS AND THE PRESENT, DR GONSALVES DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF IN VARIOUS FIELDS. HE WENT ON TO COMPLETE HIS DOCTORATE IN GOVERNMENT, COMPLETED HIS LAW STUDIES, AND LECTURED AT HIS ALMA MATER, THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, BEFORE ENTERING THE POLITICAL ARENA IN EARNEST IN HIS NATIVE ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES.
POLITICAL SUCCESS DID NOT COME EASY FOR DR GONSALVES. AND PERHAPS, THIS WAS NO BAD THING. HIS LONG YEARS IN THE POLITICAL WILDERNESS WERE NO WILDERNESS. HE MADE A SUCCESS OF HIS LEGAL PRACTICE; HE PURSUED POLITICAL EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE OF HIS COUNTRY; HE WROTE ON ISSUES AFFECTING HIS COUNTRY, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC, AND ALSO ON MATTERS AFFECTING THE CARIBBEAN AS A WHOLE. THROUGH IT ALL, HE PUT ENERGY AND INTELLECT INTO ORGANIZING POLITICALLY BY WAY OF ENSURING AND FACILITATING HIS CALL TO GOVERNMENT. THIS WILDERNESS SERVED DR GONSALVES WELL. I HAVE SAID TO VARIOUS PERSONS THAT PERHAPS NO OTHER POLITICAL LEADER IN THE CARIBBEAN HAS COME TO THE OFFFICE OF HEAD OF GOVERNMENT BETTER PREPARED FOR THAT POSITION.
DR GONSALVES HAS BROUGHT TO THE OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER OF ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES JUST WHAT MANY OF US EXPECTED. HE HAS BROUGHT HIS RESERVES OF ENERGY TO BEAR ON EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE LOT OF THE ORDINARY VINCENTIAN. HE HAS ALSO CONTINUED TO MANIFEST HIS COMMITMENT TO CLOSER INTEGRATION AMONG THE COUNTRIES OF THE CARIBBEAN REGION. WITHIN THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM), HE HAS BEEN APPOINTED MAIN SPOKESMAN ON THE BANANA INDUSTRY, WHICH IS SO VITAL TO THE COUNTRIES OF THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN. AT THEIR MEETING IN DOMINICA IN JULY OF THIS YEAR, THE HEADS OF GOVERNMENT OF THE ORGANISATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES APPOINTED HIM TO HEAD TASK FORCES ON TRAVEL FACILITATION AMONG THEIR COUNTRIES, AND ON A PROJECT FOR ESTABLISHING AN ECONOMIC UNION AMONG THE SAME COUNTRIES. HIS WISH TO SEE A MORE UNITED CARIBBEAN FITS EASILY INTO HIS CONCERN WITH THE CARIBBEAN’S PLACE IN THE WORLD COMMUNITY, A THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH HIS TWO MOST RECENT BOOKS -- HISTORY AND THE FUTURE: A CARIBBEAN PERSPECTIVE AND THE POLITICS OF OUR CARIBBEAN CIVILIZATION.
DR GONSALVES ASSUMED LEADERSHIP OF HIS COUNTRY AT A VERY DIFFICULT TIME FOR THE COUNTRIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, AND IN PARTICULAR THE SMALLER, BANANA EXPORTING COUNTRIES OF THE WINDWARD ISLANDS. THESE COUNTRIES FACE TREMENDOUS CHALLENGES OF ADJUSTMENT TO THE CHANGES IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC COMMUNITY. IT IS ABSOLUTELY INCUMBENT ON ORGANIAZATIONS LIKE THE O.A.S. TO SEEK TO RESPOND STRATEGICALLY TO THESE CHALLENGES AND TO WORK IN CONCERT WITH THE COUNTRIES TOWARDS THIS END.
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES HAS BEEN AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE O.A.S. SINCE ITS INDEPENDENCE ON OCTOBER 27, 1979 AND SINCE THEN HAS STEADILY CONTRIBUTED TO SHAPING THE AGENDA OF THE ORGANIZATION. WE RECALL THAT SOME FOUR YEARS AGO, THE AMBASSADOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, AMBASSADOR KINGSLEY LAYNE, WAS THE FIRST CHAIRMAN OF THE PERMANENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT, WHICH IS CHARGED WITH ADVANCING THE PARTNERSHIP-FOR-DEVELOPMENT GOALS OF THE ORGANIZATION.
MORE RECENTLY, OUR COLLEAGUE AMBASSADOR ELLSWORTH JOHN OF SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES WAS ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THIS COUNCIL’S COMMITTEE ON CIVIL SOCIETY’S PARTICIPATION IN O.A.S. ACTIVITIES. THE WORK OF THIS COMMITTEE REFLECTS ONE OF THE CENTRAL THEMES OF THE ADMINSTRATION OF PRIME MINISTER GONSALVES, THAT IS, THE NEED FOR GREATER REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN ATTAINING MORE EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION BETWEEN THOSE WHO GOVERN AND THE CITIZENRY AS A WHOLE.
PRIME MINISTER GONSALVES' PRESENCE HERE TODAY IS A MANIFESTATION OF THE COMMITMENT OF SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES TO HEMISPHERIC SOLIDARITY. FURTHERMORE, IT IS AN INDICATION OF THE IMPORTANCE THAT YOU, PRIME MINISTER, AND YOUR GOVERNMENT HAVE ATTACHED TO FOSTERING AND NURTURING RELATIONS AMONG THE COUNTRIES OF THE HEMISPHERE.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, DURING MY LAST MEETING IN JULY OF THIS YEAR AS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE ORGANISATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES, IT WAS DR GONSALVES WHO TOOK THE FLOOR TO PAY TRIBUTE TO ME FOR MY SERVICE TO THE ORGANISATION. IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT I HAVE KNOWN HIM SINCE 1967 DURING THE EXCITING DAYS OF STUDENT ACTIVITY AT THE UNIVERSTTY OF THE WEST INDIES. FOR THESE REASONS, ADMITTEDLY, BUT MORE SO FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT, I CONSIDER IT A CONSIDERABLE PRIVILEGE TO WELCOME THE PRIME MINISTER TO THIS MEETING. IN WORDS THAT WILL RESONATE WELL WITH HIM, DR GONSALVES CAN TRULY BE DESCRIBED AS A DISTINGUISHED SON OF OUR CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION.
IT IS AGAINST THIS BACKGROUND THAT I WELCOME YOU, DR GONSALVES, TO THE HOUSE OF THE AMERICAS. WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR STATEMENT.
I NOW HAVE THE HONOR TO OFFER THE FLOOR TO DOCTOR THE HONORABLE RALPH E. GONSALVES, PRIME MINISTER OF SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES.
MR. PRIME MINISTER, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. ******** |