Address at the Inauguration Ceremony of the CARICOM Single Market

• Author: Dr. the Hon. Ralph E. Gonsalves
• Pages: 33-36

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Address by Dr. the Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves

Let me pay special tribute to our host, that titan of Caribbean integration

and magnificent international statesman, the Most Honourable Percival J.

Patterson. We simply thank you for your work and Almighty God for your

inspiring life.

Today January 30, 2006, we reach and pass a milestone of historic

proportions as the maturation process of our Caribbean Civilisation continues.

This civilisation acknowledges the disparity of our roots, yet speaks clearly

to the intimacy of our knowledge and understanding of each other, of our

feelings of brotherhood and sisterhood, of our sense of ourselves as a unique

people embarked on an extraordinary journey through life, with determination

and commitment as we seek to mould our Caribbean community in our own

image, likeness and interest.

It is here in the landscape and seascape of the Caribbean that the peoples

of Africa and Europe, of India and Madeira, of the Middle East and China,

and those indigenous to our region, have come together through a conspiracy

of history, politics and fate, to mould a civilization out of diverse peoples

and cultures, spread among sovereign nations and countries, united in a

singular goal – that of a better life for our people and a legacy which allows

us to stand proud and tall. And so it is that today, we celebrate ourselves as

people of the Caribbean advancing by the stirrups of our own efforts, wisdom,

leadership and vision, for a better future. This is a great cause, and as the

Right Excellent Norman Washington Manley averred at Montego Bay in

1947, “great causes are not won by doubtful men and women”.

I address you today as Chairman of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean

States. The sentiments which I express today on behalf of the governments

and people of the OECS, are in no way at odds with the fact that the OECS

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4Address by Dr. the Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves,

Prime Minister, St. Vincent and The Grenadines

At the Inauguration of the CARICOM Single Market

January 30, 2006, Jamaica