Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley is the Caribbean’s most ardent champion for social and economic fairness, according to Jamaica’s former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, who also said that no one since his predecessor, Michael Manley, has been as persuasive in advocating for the region.
Patterson, Manley’s successor and the longest-serving prime minister of Jamaica (1992–2005), called Manley a powerful political personality who not only influenced Jamaica’s politics but also played a significant role in promoting regional integration.
- Advertisement -
He claims that Mottley, who “continues to provide outstanding leadership for the entire Caribbean,” has stepped up to take Manley’s place and is now a major proponent of a new global economic order that acknowledges the dysfunction and antiquated nature of the current system.
The longest-serving prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, recently emphasized that unity is more important than ever and Patterson reiterated his demand for stronger Caribbean solidarity.
Speaking to the crowd at the Michael Manley Centenary Lecture at Kingston’s Little Theatre, where he also introduced Mottley as the special guest speaker, Patterson also discussed Cuba’s continued economic struggles. Cuba has long supported the region’s healthcare and educational systems and offered technical assistance in a variety of fields. Many people who had previously opposed Cuba for political or party reasons, particularly during Manley’s administration (1972–1980), have now come to recognize and embrace its achievements, he admitted.
Patterson cited Jamaica’s repeated demands for the US embargo against Cuba to be lifted locally. He emphasized the negative effects of the 62-year-old embargo, which have been made worse by the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 and have severely limited Cuba’s access to international trade and necessary commodities.
He expressed his hope that others would emulate President Mottley stating, “It is worthy of commendation that the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, was the first to step forward and offer maximum support in a time of dire need to Cuba, to a generous neighbor.”
Speaking on Michael Manley’s legacy, Patterson considered how the late Jamaican prime minister recognized that the country’s economic growth was influenced by the history of colonial exploitation and slavery.
“He deplored that iniquitous global system, which had resulted in adverse forms of trade, the absence of supreme control over our natural resources, and the denial of remunerative prices for our primary commodities,” he stated.
He went on to say that Manley acknowledged the need to create a structure that would make the Caribbean’s voice greater than the sum of its parts to solve these long-standing deficiencies.
According to him, Manley was one of the four architects of the 1973 Treaty of Chaguaramas, which pushed for the investigation of uniform external tariffs and incentive programs for investment.
Patterson cited the treaty’s sections pertaining to foreign policy behavior as one of its key aspects, stating that nowhere was the Caribbean’s will to choose its own path more evident than the “earth-shattering decision by four Caribbean heads of the independent countries in 1972 to repudiate the United States punitive embargo against Cuba and establish full diplomatic relationships with the island”.
Patterson stated that the foundation of Manley’s concept was “a search for equality and the building of a just society, a cause to which he devoted his catalytic energy, his fertile imagination all eloquently couched with his persuasive oratorical mastery”.
His unwavering support for a New International Economic Order (NIEO), the end of South Africa’s apartheid, intellectual diversity, and respect for international law were the pillars of his leadership. Manley’s strong voice was heard throughout Africa and the Caribbean, where he supported people who had been mistreated and taken advantage of by colonial forces.
“The world today renders us more vulnerable than ever than the one we knew. The existing global order is obsolete. It was fashioned by the victors of World War II. There is autocracy of the [United Nations] Security Council and impotence when a permanent member with veto powers is involved, as was on display in Ukraine, and the injustices in Gaza (the genocide of the Palestinians by Israel).”
He continued, “The Bretton Woods Institutions (International Monetary Fund, World Bank, International Finance Corporation, World Trade Organisation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency), which were created to help rebuild the economy after World War II and which laid the foundation for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, are dysfunctional and obsolescent in facing the financial challenges that confront us today.”
According to him, pandemics, global warming, and the introduction of new technology like artificial intelligence have all brought up new difficulties.
Noting, “As Michael Manley was for the NIEO then, no one else has been more articulate than Mia Mottley for the seismic abandonment of the existing world order and a determination to include the interests of the developing world.”
He commended Mottley’s Barbados Initiative, which aims to restructure the global financial system and tackle problems including growing debt, climate change, and sustainable development for small island developing nations.
In addition to strengthening Caribbean-African connections, Mottley is carrying on Manley’s efforts of fostering international solidarity for justice and reparations as head of the CARICOM Commission on Reparatory Justice.
Part of what Mottley said in her speech was that the area was running out of time and that people who didn’t believe it would not be ready. She expressed, “The word is love”, which Manley promoted—was also about change. She maintained that even while the Caribbean and the rest of the globe might not agree on every matter, improvement is still possible through cooperation and dedication to common principles.
