Caribbean Leaders Push for Reparations and Independence

San Juan, Puerto Rico (AP) — Caribbean leaders held a meeting with senior clergy from the Church of England as calls for slavery reparations gain momentum. Activists are also advocating for the independence of British, French, Dutch, and U.S. territories in the Caribbean.

The Caricom reparations commission, part of a Caribbean trade bloc, arranged meetings to discuss reparations during a four-day official trip to the United Kingdom. This marks the second such trip since November. The commission aims to establish a framework for negotiations, asserting that reparatory justice is long overdue.

“We in the Caribbean remain the most colonized part of the world, and this has to stop,” stated Hilary Beckles, chairman of Caricom’s reparations commission and vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies.

These discussions follow a controversial statement by a U.K. lawmaker suggesting that Britain’s former colonies should repay the nation for its historical investments. The commission emphasized that the Caribbean comprises at least 20 territories linked to Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States.

“I am quite sure the people of the Caribbean will be watching to see whether their king will advance the conversation about sovereignty, decolonization, and reparatory justice,” Beckles remarked.

David Comissiong, Barbados’ ambassador to Caricom, reinforced the importance of national sovereignty and self-determination as the first step in achieving reparations. He described a meeting with senior clerics from the Church of England as “productive,” noting potential alliance.

Comissiong commended King Charles III for expressing “personal sorrow” over slavery’s lasting effects, yet criticized the United Kingdom’s abstention from a U.N. resolution advocating reparations and condemning the trafficking of enslaved Africans.

While some European governments have issued apologies, memorials, and museums, these actions are deemed insufficient by Comissiong. He stressed that the ongoing damage caused by slavery extends beyond mere gestures.

European nations forcefully transported an estimated 12 million Africans from the 16th to the 19th century. Surviving individuals faced brutal conditions as slaves on Caribbean plantations.

The commission’s London press conference included a query on establishing criteria for reparations recipients. For the Caribbean, specifics remain uncertain, though Ron Daniels from the National African-American Reparations Commission mentioned U.S. talks focusing on land, economic development, and infrastructure.

Caricom leaders request formal apologies, educational and health improvements, development for Indigenous people, repatriation, debt cancellations, and monetary compensations, among other reparations.

Jamaica’s government plans to file a formal petition in September requesting King Charles III consult the Privy Council, the island’s final court, on slavery reparations.