The man with a passion for the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves addresses the importance of the CSME and its integration into the Community of Nations.

• Author: Edwards, Ian
• Position: INTERVIEW - Interview

When Dr. Ralph Everard Gonsalves led his Unity Labour Party to an upset electoral victory in March 2001 and became prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, he entered the job well prepared. Under Prime Minister Gonsalves' purview as well are the portfolios of finance, economic planning, national security, legal affairs, Grenadines affairs, and energy. A staunch regionalist, Gonsalves' vocation, training (including a doctorate degree in government), and outlook make a fitting combination for his unique contribution to development in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean, the Americas, and the international community in general.

Prior to becoming prime minister, Dr. Gonsalves' leadership had taken the form of student activist; lecturer at his alma mater, the University of the West Indies, lawyer, trade unionist, writer, and politician, including Leader of the Opposition. His concern for people is foremost, and he is a strong advocate of one Caribbean nation that should be unyielding in assuming its rightful place in the community of nations. In this interview, the prime minister also touches on the upcoming Conference on the Caribbean, slated for Washington, DC, at a time when Caribbean-American Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States.

Although it was on October 27, 1979 that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gained independence from Britain--and immediately joined the OAS--one of its major distinctions include being the last established settler colony because of the protracted resistance by the aboriginal Kalinago people. Of the country's total area of 150 square miles, the mountainous main island of Saint Vincent occupies the largest share, running some 18 miles long and 11 miles wide. Bequia, Balliceau, Canouan, Mayreau, Mustique, Isle D'Quatre, Petit Saint Vincent, and Union Island are the main islands of the Grenadines chain of nearly 600 tiny islands that total 17 square miles.

The Vincentian leader speaks with unremitting passion about Caribbean regional and subregional integration. In January this year, he assumed the six-month chairmanship of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government Conference, which follows numerous other CARICOM responsibilities. He says the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is very much on track. The single market component involves institutional arrangements for the free movement of people, labor, capital, and resources, while the single economy seeks to consolidate some of the single economy tasks such as the coordinated production of goods and services, energy, tourism, agriculture, and air transportation.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the prime minister insists, is also very mindful of the need to ensure that its development strategies are relevant to the new realities of globalization.

In the ensuing conversation with Americas, at his offices in Kingstown, the prime minister, affectionately known as "Comrade Ralph," speaks about the improved scenario for education, poverty eradication, and economic development in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He also articulates a vision of his country--whose population is about 118,000--becoming a place where illiteracy is extinct, people are highly trained in all disciplines, participatory governance reigns supreme, the economy is diverse and sustainable, and crime is not an issue. Essentially, that vision is "to build a modern, competitive, post-colonial economy which is at once national and regional," Prime Minister Gonsalves stresses.

* Where is Saint Vincent and the Grenadines relative to where you found it...