Venezuela First to Join Caricom Fight for Slavery Reparations

[JahFocus CS]

Venezuela First to Join Caricom Fight for Slavery Reparations


Gaining international recognition is the first step in securing global reparations for the descendants of African slaves.


Venezuela is joining the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in the fight for global slavery reparations, discussing appropriate compensation for centuries of injustice.

During a speech entitled 'Reparations of Resistance to Action,' Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza urged Latin America and colonizing countries to assume responsibility for past wrongs which affected Africans and their ancestors around the world.

The Venezuelan government is working to guarantee that the social rights of residents of African descent are respected, and officials have opened the floor to dialogue for slavery reparations, Arreaza said.

According to the chair of the Caribbean Pan-African Network, David Comissiong, the meeting is the first step towards bringing the reparations movement to an international platform.

The cause was first proposed in 2013 by the 15-member Caricom, which lobbied against Britain and other colonizing western European countries. It is calling for reparations for centuries of enslavement and associated crimes against humanity, the effects of which are still felt by African descendants today.

Comissiong told teleSUR that Venezuela's support will allow the mission to expand internationally, substantiate the claim, and help to present the demands to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alba), the Non-Aligned Movement, and the United Nations.

"Venezuela now coming on board gives a tremendous boost to that campaign," Comissiong said. "People like myself have always been clear that the Caribbean reparations claim is only going to be successful when it is expanded into a kind of global Pan-African cause."

The next steps are to consolidate the Pan-African reparations campaign; build relations with countries such as China, Russia and India; build embassies, and appoint ambassadors to the United Nations.

The event, which ended Wednesday, was an opportunity for Caribbean countries to reflect on what they can do both nationally and internationally to support the cause, Comissiong said.

"Reparations is both an outward process and at the same time it's an inward process," he said. "The outward process is where we level demands and claims in those liable European and North American governments and institutions for the damage inflicted by slavery.

"It is also an inward process where we look inwards at ourselves, at our own national societies, at our own governmental policies, at the damage that has been done at a cultural and psychic level.

"That inward process says to us that we have to do several things. One, that we have to teach our people the history: the history of pre-slavery, pre-colonial Africa, the history of European colonization and enslavement, the history of our people's resistance.

"Secondly, we have to look inwards and identify all those still existing negative policies and barriers to the progress and development of African descended people and we have to root them up and get rid of them.

“We have to mobilize a massive global movement in favor and in support of reparations and, at the same time, we have to isolate those recalcitrant western and North American governments that have been audaciously resisting this claim which is based on justice, legality, and righteousness, so Venezuela can play a very big role on internationalizing this campaign that was started in 2013 by 15 relatively small Caribbean nations."

 

[BigMan]

Venezuela is in no position to help anyone but nice gesture

 

[Claudex]

All steps towards solving this severely unfinished business that is slavery is welcome.

 

[606onit]

They're only doing this because they're in a shytty position. If they were thriving and oil prices were still inflated they would be on their standard Latino "me no black" shyt

 

[BigMan]

They're only doing this because they're in a shytty position. If they were thriving and oil prices were still inflated they would be on their standard Latino "me no black" shyt

um not really.
Venezuela has a long history of associating with the Caribbean, particularly with Cuba, the ABC islands, and Trinidad and their programs such as PetroCaribe. They even flirted with joining CARICOM
go look at Hugo Chavez's legacy in the Caribbean and his statements on his and Venezuela's African ancestry as well as formal recognition of Afro-Venezuelans.
African diasporic religions flourish edunder Chavez as well.

Hugo Chavez was far from perfect but y'all need to stop with the coli me no black trope

 

[JahFocus CS]

They're only doing this because they're in a shytty position. If they were thriving and oil prices were still inflated they would be on their standard Latino "me no black" shyt

Highly ignorant post considering that Hugo Chavez pushed knowledge of African history in Venezuela/Latin America, helped improve conditions for Afro-Venezuelans, and built stronger ties with Africa and the diaspora. Chavez toured Harlem in 2006 and was received with love. Gave free heating oil to poor people in our communities.

 

[BigMan]

Highly ignorant post considering that Hugo Chavez pushed knowledge of African history in Venezuela/Latin America, helped improve conditions for Afro-Venezuelans, and built stronger ties with Africa and the diaspora. Chavez toured Harlem in 2006 and was received with love. Gave free heating oil to poor people in our communities.

he also was prepared to help during Hurricane Katrina and Venezuela was involved in disaster relief from Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean

 

[AlainLocke]

Highly ignorant post considering that Hugo Chavez pushed knowledge of African history in Venezuela/Latin America, helped improve conditions for Afro-Venezuelans, and built stronger ties with Africa and the diaspora. Chavez toured Harlem in 2006 and was received with love. Gave free heating oil to poor people in our communities.

Hugo Chavez definitely took Castro's mantle as a Latino socialist and reaching out to help the diaspora...

Even tho Venezuela ain't shyt right now...at least they still push forward with the proper ideals in regards to DOS....

 

[David_TheMan]

Talk ischeap. Castro openly accepted black americans only to thumb his nose at the us internationally, dame as china and russia accepting black nationalist openly. But look at how these nations trwated their own people let alone black member o f their nations. .
Castro kept black cubans out if power and the military elite. This has been publicly talked about
Chinese accepted black panther delegations, but do what currently. They are trying to expand and rape africa and carribean natins just like the whites. They have rep e sentatives trying to kick black chinese out the nation, their citizens calling and attacking black chinese.girls as not real chinese.
You look at russia they were fameous for providing black americans opportunity they never could get in the us. But we see nowmore than ever the strong strand white supremacy in russia that exists today.
Same with chavez, he gets praise and credit for.telling the us to fukk off. He deserves no pass for how hisnnation is rife with racism towards its own black inhabitants

 

[loyola llothta]

They're only doing this because they're in a shytty position. If they were thriving and oil prices were still inflated they would be on their standard Latino "me no black" shyt

Speaking on shyt you don't know. Yall need to stop watching west mianstream media and taking it as the truth

Venezulea is not DR

 

[606onit]

Speaking on shyt you don't know. Yall need to stop watching west mianstream media and taking it as the truth

Venezulea is not DR

nikka shut your fukking hole in your mouth. That's not how you educate, fakkit.

 

[loyola llothta]

nikka shut your fukking hole in your mouth. That's not how you educate, fakkit.

 

[kayslay]

I wonder why shot like this is never posted on the other site.

 

[BigMan]

I wonder why shot like this is never posted on the other site.

whats the other site?

 

[kayslay]

whats the other site?

LSA.
It seems the Caribbean’s and Africans there are more concerned with telling AfrAms why WE won’t get reparations instead of fighting for their own.
It’s definitely a different energy here,
More information and less tention/ego.