New frontiers breached in 1977

We have just completed celebrations of the 47th anniversary of the introduction of Fisherman’s Day, have launched Vincymas 2024, also marking 47 years since the changeover from the traditional pre-Lenten season, but it seems to have escaped our attention that those important milestones came in the same year, 1977. We cannot lose sight of such important developments.

There is another one event which is also very much under the radar but has bearing on those other two national activities. It was in that same year, 1977, that then Premier Milton Cato, in a speech in Bequia, alerted the people of this country that the march to independence was beginning and that we should so prepare.
In those 47 years, Fisherman’s Day has grown from a modest picnic-oriented, family-based activity at Canash to be a major national activity celebrating the growth and development of the Fishing industry. In addition to the growing importance of meeting our food security needs, we are now grappling with exports from the marine industry by air.

Then, no other development undertaken in 1977 has had the impact as the changeover in the Carnival dates, introducing “Vincy style in July”. What a transformation this change has occasioned! What an impetus to tourism, to the participation of overseas-based Vincies and visitors! What a positive impact on our foreign-exchange earnings!

All this came in the context of the move towards national independence. I was no fan of the Cato administration,and in fact it had to be prodded on the road to independence. But opening that door also facilitated the development of the other two aspects mentioned and that administration must be credited for making those steps.

Yes, 1977 is a very important year in our history and must be remembered and treasured.

Time For Us to Be Friends in Need for Cuba Last weekend marked the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and St Vincent and the Grenadines on May 26, 1992. It marked a significant development in the foreign policy of a country that had been historically hostile to our sister Caribbean state without justification.

Times have changed a lot since then, so much so that the impact of that decision and its implication for the development of our country is not always appreciated today. Moreover, the close relations between the governments of both countries are such that not many people are aware that it was the government of the late Sir James Mitchell which took that historic step.

The fact that Sir James was never considered a “left-wing socialist”, (save for his Castro-like beard and early appearances), adds significance to this historic step.

Further, it is to Mitchell’s credit that it was his administration that formally accepted Cuban scholarships and as well, gave employment to graduates of Cuban universities from other OECS states who were blacklisted by their own governments on their return home.

Over the three decades plus since the 1992 decision, relations between the two countries have strengthened exponentially. So much so that our country is known internationally as one of the countries brave enough to stand in solidarity with Cuba. This is in the face of the relentless persecution by the government of the USA, including a criminal economic embargo which has been extended to third countries to prevent them having economic and trade relations with Cuba.
That embargo is now having a deadly effect on the quality of human life in Cuba, making it difficult to obtain the necessities to ensure access to essential imports.

Countries which trade with Cuba are threatened with sanctions including access to banking transactions.

Cuba does not deserve this. It does not subject Caribbean people to colonialism as do the states of the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. Cuban soldiers are not committing mass genocide as does Israel which faces no such sanctions. Why should its people be subjected to such punishment?

St Vincent and the Grenadines and its people have benefited greatly from Cuban generosity over the years, long before the establishment of diplomatic relations, especially in the fields of health, education and state-to-state cooperation. As long ago as 1979, Cuba was one of the first countries to send assistance to us following the 1979 volcanic eruption, a shipload of milk and other essentials.

It is said that “a friend in need is a friend indeed”. We know that to be true regarding how we have benefited from Cuba. Our government has been making contributions to the Cuban people, but now is the time for us to go beyond that. Our people must be mobilized as part of a campaign to now reciprocate and be that “friend in need”. We need to inform our people of the dire situation facing the Cuban people, to express our strong condemnation of the unjust sanctions against Cuba, to combat the negative propaganda against Cuban internationalist workers serving our people here, and to collectively contribute towards assisting the Cuban people in their hour of need. This is our turn to extend a helping hand.

Let us be truly “A friend in need”.

• Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.