Nicolás Maduro on television. Photo: Alba Ciudad.
President Nicolás Maduro expressed his support for Caribbean countries demanding that London recognize and pay reparations for its historical crimes, including the slave trade. In the process, the Venezuelan head of state announced that Venezuela will file a claim with Spain.
“Venezuela is going to activate a deep claim upon Spain to respond for the theft and plundering of our lands,” he said. He emphasized that “the people seek justice and recognition for the horrors of the past.” The president made these comments on Monday, October 14, during a broadcast of the television program Con Maduro+.
The president stressed that Venezuela supports the Caribbean in its struggle and demands: “all of the above, in order for London to recognize and pay the historical reparations to which the people who are heirs of the slaves brought by force, through torture and kidnapping, are entitled.”
A group of 15 Caribbean countries could demand that Britain pay at least £206 billion (US $269 billion) in reparations for damage caused by the slave trade, the Daily Mail reported.
Venezuela’s Attorney General: Lula & Boric Were Co-opted by the CIA
The governments of these Caribbean countries have unanimously agreed to put the issue of reparations for slavery on the table at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa on October 21.
According to the Transatlantic Slavery Reparations Report, published in June last year, estimates of the potential bill for Britain’s involvement in slavery in 14 countries range from £206 billion (US $269 billion) to £18.8 trillion (US $24.5 trillion), according to the National African American Reparations Commission.
This higher figure was mentioned last year by Patrick Robinson, who served as a judge at the International Court of Justice from February 2015 until 2024. In August last year, he said the UK could no longer ignore growing calls for reparations for transatlantic slavery.
“These calculations do not refer to a five- or ten-year period,” Robinson said. “They cover the entire duration of transatlantic slavery, which is hundreds of years.”
For her part, in late September, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley told the United Nations that reparations for slavery and colonialism should be part of a new global “reset.” Mottley, who is leading the demands of the West Indian countries, met with King Charles III of the United Kingdom earlier this month for talks ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. The prime minister then praised the king for declaring two years ago that slavery is “a conversation whose time has come.”
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley said during celebrations marking the emancipation from slavery that when nations gather in Samoa, “Caribbean leaders will speak very strongly to the Commonwealth as one voice.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SL
