THE CARIBBEAN are one of the most diverse peoples on earth. Their composition includes indigenous Carib, Taino and Ciboney, integrated with millions violently ripped from Africa, Europeans and migrants mainly of Chinese and Indian origins.
They are also some of the most bloodied, repressed and suppressed in world history. Today, most of the colonies in the world are in the Caribbean. The issue of colonialism in the Caribbean is so bad that the colonialists refuse to recognise many of them as colonies.
Chalmers noted that the diversity of the people had united them. He said when the oppressors brought diverse people together with the potential to divide them, the people countered by creating their own language of unity, adding: “We created Creole, we also created our own religion, Voodoo, which incorporated the religion of the oppressor. We equally created an organisation of labour on the basis of freedom, solidarity and freedom.”
The Assembly of Caribbean People (ACP) in a webinar on April 5, 2025 co-ordinated by Kandis Sebro, decided to deliberate on the past, present and the future of the Caribbean. The theme was: “Culture, Resistance, Sovereignty and Revolution.” I was not only given the honour to attend, but also to speak.
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The moderator, Elsa Sanchez of the Dominican Republic made it clear that: “The Caribbean people are not asking for permission to be free.” All they demand, is “a fair and sovereign world.”
African liberation fighter and famous author, Franz Fanon, was produced by Martinique which ironically remains a French colony. Tragically, France and the United Nations (UN) refuse to recognise its colonial status.
Martinique is one of the longest suffering countries in world history. It was colonised for 133 years by Spain, before France occupied it on September 15, 1635, that is 390 years ago!
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At the ACP conference, the position of Martinique was presented by Robert Sae in a paper titled: “The Struggle for the Achievement of Sovereignty.” He said the people are told they are sovereign, but not independent. The French, he said, dictates to the people who cannot even decide on tariff in their homeland.
He said the great resistance of the Cuban and Bolivarian Revolutions continue to inspire the people. Sae asked the ACP to further equip Martinique people with information and technological know-how to further their struggle for independence.
Barbados and Haiti presented a paper titled: “The Caribbean, a Space of Proposals for a New World.” It was presented by David Denny of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration.
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He said Caribbean movements need to develop an Action Plan that can help them unite socially, economically and politically “so we can create a space for our people in the world.”
Denny submitted that the Caribbean people need to build a united movement that can create the conditions of the Grenada Revolution. He suggested that one of the basic steps that need to be taken is the strengthening of the Trade Union Movement that could make them serve the workers. He also suggested that the Reparations struggles should be part of the agenda for liberation, and linked with the solidarity struggles of the Latin American and African Peoples.
I also presented to the conference, the ECM suggestions that to take serious steps towards ending colonialism in the world, the UN should properly identify and designate all affected territories as colonies in accordance with its Charter which defines them as “territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”.
He noted that there is a big divide between the Caribbean People and the Afro-Descendants in Latin America, and suggested the creation of joint anti-fascist platform like Venezuela is building.
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The Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development (PAPDA), which is dedicated to promoting alternative development models in that country, particularly on food and sovereignty, also made a presentation. Camille Chalmers who spoke for the organisation, said the Caribbean people are fighting against genocide and re-colonisation. The region, he said, is “at the heart of trans-modernity.” He noted that it had produced strong revolutionary movements which resulted in the Haitian, Cuban, Bolivarian, Nicaraguan and Grenadian Revolutions.
Chalmers noted that the diversity of the people had united them. He said when the oppressors brought diverse people together with the potential to divide them, the people countered by creating their own language of unity, adding: “We created Creole, we also created our own religion, Voodoo, which incorporated the religion of the oppressor. We equally created an organisation of labour on the basis of freedom, solidarity and freedom.”
He paid tribute to Haitian revolutionary leader, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who after the liberation of his country on January 1,1804 wanted to move on to liberate Martinique and Guadeloupe where the French had established slavery. Dessalines also had a wider plan to liberate Africa from colonialists.
Chalmers noted that France imposed a terrible ransom on Haiti two centuries ago which destroyed the foundations of the latter’s economy. He said this is one of the reasons the people should not relent in their demand for reparations.
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The paper: “The Caribbean Driving Emancipatory Processes” was delivered by Julia Canrera of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples, ICAP. The presentation identified three stages of emancipation the Caribbean people had undergone: colonialism, efforts to eradicate internal oppression, and Northern American imperialism. ICAP noted the imposition of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the World Bank, and their enslaving conditionalities on the Caribbean people. It asked for support and solidarity with the Caribbean people to implement their Ten-Point Programme of emancipation.
I spoke on the establishment of the End Colonialism Movement (ECM), a product of the August 12-13, 2024 international conference hosted by the African think tank, the Society for International Relations Awareness (SIRA).
Responding to my presentation, Edwin Cortes, who had spent 14 years in US jails for agitating for Puerto Rico’s independence said: “I think Nigeria represents hope for the new world we want to create.”
The ECM, I informed, demands independence for 61 colonies around the world, including Martinique, Guadalupe and Puerto Rico which the United States has occupied since December 10, 1898.
I pointed out that the ECM document supports the Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice adopted by the 15-member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
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I also presented to the conference, the ECM suggestions that to take serious steps towards ending colonialism in the world, the UN should properly identify and designate all affected territories as colonies in accordance with its Charter which defines them as “territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”.
Secondly, that it addresses colonies by their proper name and not as ‘Self-Governing Territories’ (NSGTs), which serves to obscure their true status. Thirdly, that it concentrates on and aim more directly at decolonisation and less on ancillary matters.
Thirdly, that it recognises all colonies rather than merely the 17 which have been designated.
Fourthly, that the UN admits all colonies into the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, just as India and the Philippines were admitted in 1945 while still being British and American colonies respectively.
Fifthly, that it holds public Decolonisation Hearings and Negotiations between the colonies and the colonising countries to work out actionable plans for decolonisation and their implementation.
I also informed that the ECM had urged the UN to design concrete and actionable plans for decolonisation in the world by the year 2030 which is when the UN Fourth Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism ends.
Responding to my presentation, Edwin Cortes, who had spent 14 years in US jails for agitating for Puerto Rico’s independence said: “I think Nigeria represents hope for the new world we want to create.”
