Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Where are we?

Montserrat, is one of the United Kingdom's few remaining Colonies in the Caribbean.
i note with interest, and a huge degree of respect and support, that a recent United Nations Report on the remaining colonies documented the Colony of Anguilla's determination to seek full internal Self Government.
i note, with some degree of perplexity, that the Colony of Montserrat and its constant position on its Right to Self Determination is not even mentioned.
Of all the remaining colonies of the United Kingdom, Montserrat has made its presence at more decolonisation meetings than any other Caribbean Colony.
Through out the years, Montserrat's position has been consistent.
At the 2001 Decolonisation meeting in Cuba, Montserrat anticipated the Administering Powers intent to incorporate the remaining Colonies.
At that meeting the representative from Montserrat was clear.
Montserrat has no desire to be delisted under some false assumption and Montserrat's vision for its future, is to eventually exercise it's RIGHT to Self Government.
Despite all that the Colony of Montserrat has experinced since then, that position still holds sway.
The United Kindom's attempt to assure Montserrat's incorporation into Great Britain appropiately called "incorporation by stealth" is still ongoing.
The so called constitutional review, has turned out to be nothing more than Foreign Commonwealth Office representatives attemtps to get the Government of Montserrat to agree to abdicate certain fundamental Rights by signing a "constitutional agreement" that continues and even increases the Administering Power's authority over the Colony.
To its credit, the present Government of Montserrat has resisted and as of this posting has not yet signed of on any "constitutional" arrangements that carries the Colony further back into an ancient colonial era, rather than forward into a modern day agreement.
The Colony of Montserrat is presently facing many challenges.
The United Kingdom, has so far taken advantage of every one of theose challenges to further ensure that the Colony of Montserrat remains a dependent territory of England.

1 comment:

musicmama said...

Cudjoe

Thrilled that you have surfaced once again in this particular space. I think the blog should be posted on the network especially as the CPAN had decided that it would engage in advocacy re decolonisation in the Caribbean Region.

When the Committee of 24 met in Anguilla several years ago, there was a call for a UN presence with resources to engage the population in processes of public education regarding the options for self-determination. Even though Anguilla is advancing its position, there is still need for public and media engagement on the subject.
You have taken a much-needed and welcome step with this blog. Thanksgiving

Blessed Love
Ijahnya