DECLARING that the Caribbean’s fight for reparation must not “fall prey to distractions and sideshows”, former St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has dismissed arguments about African involvement in slavery, labelling them as attempts to divert attention from the role European states played in slavery.

He also argued that references to British aid and development support for the Caribbean amounted to “minuscule support” compared to the vast wealth extracted from the region through slavery.

Speaking during a Jamaica Observer Press Club on Wednesday, Gonsalves — now senior adviser to the Repair Campaign — said reparation must be viewed not simply as a historical debate, but as both a modern human rights issue and an attempt to address the deep economic and social scars left behind by slavery, colonialism and indigenous genocide.