Barbados prepares for the republic... and becomes president in place of Queen Elizabeth

President-elect Sandra Mason (left) prepares to take over the presidency of the Republic of Barbados after her abdication of the British throne.

AFP

Barbados is preparing to break free from the British crown and transform into a republic to confront the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism and the inequalities inherited from its colonial past.

Barbados, known for its beautiful beaches, will inaugurate tomorrow, Sandra Mason, who was elected by indirect universal suffrage as president, instead of Queen Elizabeth II.

The celebrations of this historic transition to republican rule will begin, and include parties and military parades this evening, in the presence of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.

The establishment of a republic in this small Caribbean nation, independent since 1966, came after years of local campaigning and long debates over centuries of British influence punctuated by 200 years of slavery.

"When I heard about the Queen, I felt very happy when I was a little girl," Sharon Bellamy Thompson, 50, who saw Elizabeth II in her childhood, remembers during a visit to the island.

"As I grew up, I began to wonder what this Queen really meant to me and my country," she said in the capital, Bridgetown.

It didn't make any sense," she said, stressing that "having a female president in Barbados would be great."

Activists such as Verana Polbulia, founder of the Barbados Muslim Association, argue that British colonialism and slavery are directly responsible for the inequality on the island.

The 26-year-old says that "the differences in wealth, the ability to own real estate, and even get bank loans, all this is related to the structures that were created under British rule."

She adds that "the physical restrictions (of slavery) are broken and we no longer put them, but the moral restrictions are still in our minds."

Barbados held its first presidential election in October, 13 months after declaring its constitutional separation from the British crown.

But some residents point to more pressing problems, including the economic crisis caused by the "Covid-19" pandemic, which exposed the country's dependence on tourism, especially from Britain.

Before the spread of Corona, the island, known for its clear waters, was visited by more than a million people every year.

The tranquility of the normally busy streets of Bridgetown, the small number of visitors, and the lackluster nightlife, today, testify to the difficulties faced by the pearl of the Lesser Antilles, which has a population of about 287,000.

The unemployment rate reached about 16%, an increase of 9% over previous years, despite the increase in government borrowing to finance public sector works and create job opportunities.

Christina Hinds, professor of international relations at the University of the West Indies in Barbados, said: "The British royal family is guilty of exploitation in this region, yet they have not offered any official apology or any form of compensation for past mistakes."

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