Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines arrives in Miami to speak at Eric Williams Memorial Lecture

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, will arrive in Miami tomorrow to deliver the keynote address at the 17th annual Eric Williams Memorial Lecture at Florida International University set for October 23, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.

Under the theme “The US-Cuba Accord: How the Caribbean Paved the Way”, the lecture will address the historic 1972 initiation of diplomatic relations with Cuba by Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and Guyana – the four signatories to the establishment of CARICOM the very next year. This unprecedented step was taken, despite intense pressure from Washington, a full 43 years prior to that of the US earlier this year. The underpinnings of the Trinidad and Tobago position stem from Williams’ oft-stated insistence on an “extended Caribbean Community embracing everybody – British, French, Dutch, American, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic and the three Guianas” (From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean,1492-1969).

The Prime Minister will discuss the Caribbean’s new place in changing U.S./Cuba relations.