Grenada PM Dickon Mitchell addresses 48th CARICOM Heads of Government conference

Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, presented a powerful speech at the 48th CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Heads of Government Meeting in Bridgetown, Barbados, where he touched down upon several key areas including climate change, Caribbean unity and reparations for trans-Atlantic slavery. The theme of the three-day meeting is “Strength in Unity: Forging Caribbean Resilience, Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development”.

The leader, who served as the chair of CARICOM between July and December 2024 before passing the baton to his Barbadian counterpart Mia Amor Mottley, said at the outlet of his speech that when he joined the Caribbean Community, he was a sceptic but his association with the same saw him transforming into a zealot regarding the grouping’s functioning, thanks to what he called the “unwavering dedication and commitment of the leadership of CARICOM” to its people.

Hailing top international dignitaries such as United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who he called a solid partner of CARICOM and the Small Island Developing States, Mitchell said just around when he took up the reins of CARICOM’s chair, Grenada and many other island-nations in the Caribbean were battered by a devastating Category 4 hurricane (Beryl). 

The meeting of the heads of the government had to be postponed due to the impact of the disaster but Mitchell praised CARICOM for making the event successful in less than a month after the passage of the hurricane. 

“If there is one single response that demonstrates the theme that we are looking at – ‘Strength in Unity: Forging Caribbean Resilience’ (partially the theme of the 2025 meeting), it was CARICOM’s response to the passage of Hurricane Beryl over Grenada and other islands in the northern Caribbean,” the former chair said.   

“It was that unified response that gave Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique the resilience that has allowed them over the last several months to rebound stronger and better and become more determined to confront the existential threat of climate change,” Mitchell added.  

It is not a movie: PM Mitchell

The leader reiterated what he said in his speech at the UN General Assembly in September last year saying Grenada is a living lab and the country is being experimented on with the consequences of climate change. 

“It is not a movie. No movie can replicate the kind of damage and destruction and the emotional trauma and stress that our citizens and citizens elsewhere face when climate change and its negative consequences affect them,” he said. 

“But we are resilient we are going to rise. We will continue to fight advocate and continue to offer partnership and friendship.”

Mitchell said that as a country which is at the receiving end of climate change threats, Grenada doesn’t ask for mercy or sympathy but partnerships to weather the challenge. He said it is one planet and what his country is facing today, those in other parts of the world could also face tomorrow, be it in the Pacific, Spain, New Orleans or Australia. 

“We are asking for partnerships to tackle challenges of climate change and in protecting and sustaining lives, livelihoods and cultures of people who are most prone to devastating impacts of climate change. We are in Barbados. If you think Barbados, The Bahamas or Dominica is not worth fighting for, then I don’t know what is,” he said before an audience featuring the heads of the government from various CARICOM states. 

Mitchell on his tenure as CARICOM chair

Haiti

Reflecting on his tenure as the chair of CARICOM for the second half of 2024, the Grenadian PM said the organisation devoted enormous time, efforts and resources to supporting the people of Haiti during his time and will continue to do the same under PM Mottley. 

He said international communities might be suffering from what is called the ‘Haiti fatigue’ (a loss of interest in helping Haiti due to the country's repeated multifaceted crises) but it cannot be a reason not to protect its people’s right to life, liberty, healthcare, housing, education and preservation of their culture. 

He recalled the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) saying it had changed the Caribbean region. Had it been not for Haiti, the idea that one human being could own another human being in the shackles of slavery might well be persisting still, he said. 

Mitchell added that they owed it to Haiti and support and advocate for partnership to restore normalcy. 

Reparations for trans-Atlantic slavery

Mitchell also said that CARICOM has remained vocal on the issue of reparations for trans-Atlantic slavery and enslavement of African people and will continue to do so till the idea of one human being owning another is explicitly rejected or there could be risk of the idea taking root again. 

“I don't mean to be impolite,” Mitchell said, looking at the president of European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. "But I will say it to you: the issue of reparations... is an issue we will take up with you."

“We owe it to ourselves and future generations of humanity to ensure (slavery) is accepted as a crime against humanity, and that appropriate apology and compensation is paid, and that the international community accepts this should never happen again,” the Grenadian PM said.

At least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped between the 15th and the 19th centuries and forcibly transported by mainly European merchants and sold into slavery.

The CARICOM Reparations Commission works on setting up moral, ethical and legal cases for the payment of reparations by the governments of former colonial countries and relevant institutions in those countries to the people of CARICOM for crimes against humanity of native genocide, trans-Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery. 

‘The rich cannot dictate terms’

Seconding the words uttered by the Barbadian Youth Ambassador to CARICOM, Ashley Lashley, who spoke before him, Mitchell said it is time that the regional and international challenges that CARICOM faces are taken up decisively. 

He said the powerful and the wealthy cannot do what they want and where they want. The CARICOM nations’ populations and sizes may be small but that doesn’t make their or their citizens’ rights insignificant. They should also be able to take part in a rules-based international order based on universally accepted human rights. 

“We should not at this pivotal moment of humanity and world history de-emphasize the role of our unity, advocacy and our contribution to continued growth and development of mankind," he said.

PM Mitchell is responsible for Science and Technology (including Information and Communications) in the Quasi Cabinet.