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Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. (IWN file photo)
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. (IWN file photo)
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U.S.-based Garifuna leader professor Wellington Ramos should claim lands in Belize, the country of his birth, and not his ancestral home, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves says.

Gonsalves told supporters of his ruling Unity Labour Party in Rabacca on Sunday that Ramos claimed land in SVG when he visited recently for talks with the opposition.

The main opposition New Democratic Party has promised to give honorary citizenship to all Garifuna if it wins the next general election.

Ramos says he is Garifuna, descendants of indigenous Vincentians, who consider SVG their ancestral home.

The professor claims that his ancestor comes from SVG, Gonsalves, said, adding, “That may or may not be so …”

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He, however, said that assuming that Ramos was of Garifuna descent, he was “born and bred” and worked in Belize and how lives in the United States, where he works.

Professor Wellington Ramos. (IWN file photo)
Professor Wellington Ramos. (IWN file photo)

“And he comes to tell us that he and others like him own St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In one speech he said he is coming back for his land,” Gonsalves said.

“Well, let me tell you something. Ramos, you from Belize, Belize has 8,800 square miles of land. Belize has a population of 340,000 people. Belize is the last populated country in Central America by density. You have 39 persons per square mile in Belize. That’s all. You want land, take some in Belize,” Gonsalves said.

He pointed out that there is 150 square miles of land in SVG and 110,000 people.

The population density per square mile in SVG is 733, Gonsalves said, noting that a chunk of the country is mountains.

“By all means, let us strengthen the links, as we have been doing between the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and our Garifuna brothers and sisters overseas,” Gonsalves said.

“Let us continue to do that, as we have been doing since 2001 and before, but, please, Mr. Ramos, don’t come here and insult people and tell them that the land in St. Vincent belongs to you, because it does not belong to you, Mr. Ramos. Let us make the point absolutely clear.”

Gonsalves noted that Ramos does not support linking reparations for genocide against Garifuna and former African slaves in SVG.

He said Ramos is seeking to deny the “Africanness” inside of Garifuna, who are a mixture of Africans and Calinago.

18 replies on “Garifuna leader Ramos should take lands in Belize, not SVG –Gonsalves”

  1. It was the PM of SVG who first said that the Garifuna people are coming to SVG to take away our lands. Now here he is twisting it around to say that Professor Ramos say so. Come on PM you need to stop and think for a moment. Unless you are losing it you feel deep in your heart that Vincentians are a bunch of chupit people.

    1. Urlarex, you are quite right, it was Gonsalves that started the spiral of spite and malice against Ramos.

      1. Luther Bonadie says:

        Peter,

        Have some respect here, BOY, When referring to the Prime Minister of this land, You’ll refer to him as Mr. Gonsalves or Mr. Prime Minister not Gonsalves, know your darm place here, BOY. Is that all the respect you parents thought you.

  2. A lot of inflammatory and paranoid rhetoric from a PM who is fighting for his political life.

    I would like to read the contents of Dr. Ramos’ address before replying in detail but I doubt that Ramos, whose ethnicity the PM has even questioned in the above speech, “tell us that he and others like him own St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In one speech he said he is coming back for his land,” as the PM claims.

    Any land that might be surrendered would be land that would be part of the reparations paid by the sovereign state of SVG to our founding people in partial settlement of what was unlawfully taken from them when they were defeated and exiled. There is so much idle public land in the North Windward that a few hundred symbolic acres of Crown property would be a pittance.

    How ironic that this PM wants reparations from the British for slavery but refuses to consider reparations to the Garifuna something only the government of SVG can lawfully grant if the reparations consist of a return of some of the territory seized from them.

    The Garifuna — and the PM — well know that slavery reparations is a stillborn issue. Britain has already said they will not pay; the British courts will uphold any position of the British government on this issue given that slavery ended in 1838; the International Court of Justice cannot rule on an issue that is so old, if only because it would open up grievances going back thousands of years.

    At any rate, I want read what Dr. Ramos actually said, not Dr. Gonsalves re-interpretation of what he thinks he said.

    1. Well said David, we just cannot accept the word of a known and self confessed liar without seeing the evidence first.

      Sorry comrade you told us you tell lies like you told us if we show you a liar you will show us a thief.

      1. Luther Bonadie says:

        Peter,

        If the shoe fits wear it.

        You and that ” donkey cart minded ” C ben, are the second and third biggest liars around.

        You know that , that LAZY CRAP Eustace is the biggest liar of them all.

        So go to hell with your bias and hatred comments, St. Vincent don’t need that kind of S***T.

        You dig.

      2. Bonadie, you and your like perpetuate the lies and slander that emanates from your boss.

        It doesn’t matter how many time you come here you cannot change the truth, try as you may.

        I hope you get paid plenty for what you do, because no one would bring what you bring without being paid, unless you are a lunatic and that is more than possible.

  3. Ralph Gonzalves is at it again! The master of lies and deception is at it again. It is just very sad that we have half the people of St Vincent that actually believe the excrement that flows from his mouth….just because Ralph said it, it must be true! We can just hope that in the coming election that enough people are fed-up with his lies and terrible economic stupidity….The only ones that are becoming prosperous in SVG are Ralph and his friends.

    1. @Lostpet, you didn’t only lose your pet you lost your senses. You’re suffering from what I would term as the “Peter Binose/C-ben David hate syndrome”. On the other hand you could be related. The only excrement that’s flowing here is YOU!
      PM Gonsalves is right on target, only haters with the above syndromes like I said, will not have “ears to hear or eyes to see”. Check into a Hospital before it’s too late.

  4. Politics in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have taking a new low.

    Shame on all politicians involved, we should all ask people to vote for us for what we can do, not vote for me, because you hate the other person.

  5. Well am sorry for Professor Ramos if he really thinks he will be getting any lands here.SVG belongs to Gonsalves because he has the title deed.He is the slave master and we vincentians are his property.You really sound like a man full of hate and venom eh.Seems like during the time you were making this speech you forget the love in LABOUR LOVES YOU.

  6. When is black people gonna learn you telling me with all that is happening around the world to us that we in SVG could still in today day and age have white men dividing us,really man shame on us. With all these foolishness that have being going on over the last decade I bet if it was a black man in power the street would have being block and strikes for so. Black man is the black man worst enemy. Cro Cro you are so right.

    1. @ Hope. Whoever or whatever you are, there’s no HOPE in looking to you or yours for leadership in SVG. Move to Harlem USA, you will be more than welcome there.

  7. So which lands is Ramos looking to takeover? Did he file a claim with the government that we are not aware of? Ralph is trying to block and throw blocks on the issue because he failed to address it for more than 14 years. Ralph hates to be in the back seat on any issue. He always wants to be left, right, front and center on every issue. That’s why his ministers can’t express their opinions. I think it’s time Arnhim allow his shadow cabinet ministers to get involved. Let them address many of the issues related to their ministry. Ralph is using Arnhim as the election tool to talk about leadership. Of course Arnhim didn’t rape any police woman, the entire nation knows that[…] It appears that many Vincentians love to be screwed and the ULP is doing it to them, right from behind.

  8. Once again, PM Gonsalves is right on target!

    There is a saying that some Vincentians have a nasty habit of favoring “others” over their “very own” because of some psychological induced brainwashing of “self hate”, and from reading most of these comments, these folks just reinforce that feeling and this induced brain washing over and over again; in spite of the ignorance and the sheer stupidity of the “others”. Now any reasonable and sane individual must think …“all yo sick, really sick”!

  9. Ramos never said he wants our land, only Gonsalves said that now he is beginning to believe his own lies.

    1. Wellington Ramos:
      A Mandate for a Garifuna nation.
      “After activist Guerrero spoke, the Garifuna Nation summit continued and several motions were put forward and approved. They were”:

      1. To give the Garifuna Nation the mandate to go ahead with the establishment of a nation;

      2. That the Garifuna Nation must form a committee effective immediately to accept sample symbols of a nation, such as a coat of arms, flag, national anthem, pledge, an animal, plant and other related national symbols;

      3. The Garifuna Nation current executive body act as their representatives in carrying out all the functions that are required to become a nation; and

      4. That the goals and objectives of the Garifuna Nation be carried out on the Garifuna people’s behalf.

      PS. Sounds very much like they looking for lands to set up a nation. I’m beginning to wonder where. However, I know it aint SVG?

      1. Good point, for a change, Vinciman! There is hope for you yet!. Why not join your man Jomo Thomas in demanding full citizenship for the exiled Garifuna?

        ***

        There are literally hundreds of “nations” or nationalities — people with a distinct culture, history, and ancestral homeland — all around the word who do not have their own nation-state or country but are part of a larger nation-state or country.

        Most of these “nations” were conquered, incorporated, integrated or exiled by other stronger nation-states.

        Some of them — the best know example are the Kurds who are spread over several different middle eastern countries but are not a politically independent entity with their own country — are longing for a nation-state of their own but in most cases this is just wishful thinking as it is for our own Garifuna or for the hundreds of aboriginal First Nations in Canada.

        In Africa alone, there are hundreds of “nations” but only a couple dozen countries. A few more may emerge as existing countries break up. But this will never lead to widespread Balcanization which is only a road to further impoverishment.

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