US News: Becoming a republic, Barbados said goodbye to Elizabeth II

© Randy Brooks Prince Charles upon his arrival at Grantley Adams International Airport, Christ Church, Barbados, November 28, 2021

Queen Elizabeth II 'Starting to lose a new jewel of his crown with the sword performance Monday night of the first president of the history of Barbados, the small island of the Caribbean becoming a republic.

Already independent of the United Kingdom since 1966, Barbados will celebrate its transition from the monarchy to a republican regime after some four centuries of subjection to the British ruler.

The island known for its heavenly beaches, its rum, and to be the birthplace of the world superstar Rihanna, aura for state cheft another woman, Sandra Mason, until then Governor General of the country, after her election In October by indirect universal suffrage.

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© Randy Brooks Women dance on the occasion of the inauguration of the Bridgetown Freedom Park, Barbados, November 27, 2021

Its entry into office will take place at midnight in the capital, Bridgetown. The queen's banner will come down and the elected president will be invested before the highest magistrate of the country. The presidential flag will then hoisted.

© Jacob King Queen Elizabeth II (left) at a Cardiff ceremony in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2021, and the Governor General of Barbados Sandra Mason (right) at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace In London on March 23, 2018

guest for the occasion, Prince Charles will join the festivities even as a controversy hatched over the weekend on remarks that the Crown heir would have made a few Years about the skin color of the future children of the couple formed by his son Harry and Meghan Markle.

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These remarks are reported in an extract from the book "Brothers and Wives, Inside The Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan" to appear on Tuesday, even as the questions of the British influence and racism had been decisive in The decision of Barbados to become a republic, the island still marked by the inheritance of several centuries of slavery.

© Pool Prince Charles welcomed by Sandra Mason upon arrival at Bridgetown airport in Barbados on November 28, 2021

- More urgent problems -

Critics already targeted Prince Charles's invitation by the Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who must give him the highest distinction of the island, the order of freedom ("Order of Freedom").

"The British royal family is guilty of exploitation in this area, and yet it has not submitted any official excuse or form of compensation for past harm," says Kristina Hinds, Professor of International Relations at the University of India Westerners in Barbados.

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For some activists, like Firhaana Bulbulia, founder of the Muslim Association of Barbados, British colonization and slavery are thus directly responsible for inequalities on the island.

"Wealth gaps, the ability to own, even access to bank loans, all of this is linked to the structures created under the British power," says the 26-year-old woman.

"Physical chains (slavery) have been broken and we do not pay them anymore, but the mental chains persist in our minds," she says.

But some inhabitants point to the existence of more urgent problems, including the economic crisis caused by the Pandemic of Covid-19, which has only highlighted the dependence of the country towards tourism, in particular from the United Kingdom.

Before the emergence of the virus, the island with crystal clear waters was visited each year by more than a million people.

The calm of the streets usually animated by Bridgetown, the derisory number of visitors and a moribund nightlife today testify to the difficulties of this pearl of the small Antilles, which has about 287,000 inhabitants.

Unemployment is nearly 16%, up 9% compared to previous years, despite the increase in government borrowings to finance public sector work and create jobs.

str-rle / seb /