PM Gonsalves joins distinguished speakers at Annual Eric Williams Memorial Lecture in Miami, Florida

by Oscar Ramjeet

Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves will join a list of illustrious speakers next month when he addresses a distinguished gathering at the 17th Annual Eric E Willliams Memorial Lecture at the Florida International University in Miami Florida.{{more}}

Gonsalves, a well-known socialist and admirer of the Castros, will speak on “The US-Cuba Accord: How the Caribbean Paved the Way.”

The Eric E Williams Lecture was inaugurated in 1998 by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and every year there have been world known speakers, including former president of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda, John Hope Franklin, one of America’s premier black historians, Angela Davis, civil and women’s rights activist, former Prime Minister of Jamaica, PJ Patterson, and several university presidents and professors.

Dr Eric Williams was the first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago and one of the leading advocates against colonialism. He was the author of several books, including from “Colombus to Castro,” while Dr Gonsalves, besides so far serving three terms as prime minister, wrote several books, including “Our Caribbean Civilization and its Political Prospects”, “The Cast of Reparatory Justice”, “Diary

of a Prime Minister”, “The Making of the Comrade, the Political Journey of Ralph Gonsalves” and “Ten Days Among Benedictine Monks.”

The lecture will attract a large crowd because of Dr Gonsalves’ vast experience on socialism and the topic is very appropriate at this time with the development of the US and Cuba’s relationship after more than five decades of “the Cold War.”

The lecture takes place on Friday, October 23, at the Florida International University (FIU) on 8th Street, Miami, Florida.

The Eric E Williams Memorial Lecture was the brainchild of Erica Williams Connell, daughter of the late Trinidadian leader.