Mottley at CARIFESTA: Caribbean risks ‘recolonisation’ without unity, education

BARBADOS--“𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 21𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘥𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦-𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯."

And with that, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley cautioned the crowd during CARIFESTA XV’s Big Talk, Big Conversations panel on Saturday at Golden Square Freedom Park.

Responding to a question from CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Carla Barnett, Mottley’s remarks came alongside contributions from St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles, and St. Lucian Ambassador Dr. June Soomer during the 90-minute discussion.

She pointed to the dangers of foreign control over digital infrastructure and information flows, noting that even advanced “smart cities” and grids could be rendered powerless “with the turning of a switch” if owned externally. She illustrated her point with a personal example: when using artificial intelligence tools to research laws in the Americas shaped by the notorious Barbados Slave Code of 1661, responses were cut short. For Mottley, it was evidence of how vulnerable the region is when it does not control its own narratives or knowledge systems.

The Prime Minister stressed that Caribbean nations cannot secure their future in isolation. “We are not in a position to control our destiny if we want to do it individually and without understanding the importance of common action and common purpose through the Caribbean Community,” she said.

Highlighting Barbados’ deep-rooted sense of social justice, forged through centuries of oppression, Mottley linked the need for regional cooperation to the demographic and economic challenges facing small states. She argued that the region lags behind in establishing a population commission that could shape development intentionally rather than by “accident or serendipity.”

She further cautioned that without instilling resilience and collective purpose in Caribbean people, governments may be tempted to strengthen control through power rather than influence, especially as the state’s ability to reach people outside the school system diminishes.

“We are years behind in establishing a regional population commission that allows the Caribbean to be able to forge its destiny not by accident or serendipity or because somebody else wants to oppress us but because we are shaping and forming our own destiny deliberately,” the Prime Minister noted. “If we do not root our people in the values that carried Caribbean societies through centuries of hardship, we will fail to build the resilience required for the future.”

𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘺 (𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵. 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘳. 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳.

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