The next stop is St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a country made up of over 30 islands. I am blessed to have viewed with my own eyes the beauty that these islands have to offer. I am sure that if I was able to stay longer I would have no problem finding many relaxing and enjoying things to do. The international airport is also in a very nice location with very friendly people to help you and similar to Grenada in that it was really easy to clear customs and immigration and put my plane ‘to rest’ for the visit.
Since this country is located in the Caribbean Sea, it is square in the pathway of many hurricanes. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan devastated these islands. The first countries to offer aide in the aftermath were Cuba and Venezuela. Both of them sent money and laborers to help with reconstruction and neither of them recognize Kosovo’s independence. This may make it difficult for St. Vincent to formally recognize our independence since both Cuba and Venezuela are in close geographical proximity and also so substantial in regards to available resources.
On the other hand, this country is a member of regional political and economic organizations such as the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), CARICOM (an organization of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies whose focus is on economic integration and cooperation of those countries and coordination of their foreign policy), United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Most importantly though, St. Vincent and the Grenadines has chosen to recognize Taiwan instead of the People’s Republic of China.
While I was there I was able to conduct interviews with two newspapers and a television broadcasting company which promised to transmit our interview to several islands in the Caribbean. The media was very responsive and understood the importance of gaining formal recognition as a country as it was only recently (October 27, 1979) that they themselves had gained independence from England. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened their door wide as well. The Hon. Sir Louis Straker, Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council of Ministers and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Trade for St. Vincent and the Grenadines was happy to meet with me and through our discussion I learned that there are forces here that support our independence – including a a school friend of Sir Straker who has asked him many times to recognize our independence. Eliot Angle, the people of Kosovo thank you for providing consistent reminders to your friend. Sir Straker also recommended that our the government invite all of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OECS states to Kosovo for discussions. Sir Straker’s Permanent Secretary Mr. Andreas Wickham and the Director of Foreign Policy and Research, Maxwell Charles also offered their valuable time and thoughts on the topic. As usual, I wish I had more time to for discussion with these men and more personal time to experience and learn from their beautiful country. I appreciate the honesty and openness that I have received and am very hopeful, as I was assured that the topic of our independence would be brought to the forefront of their governmental discussions.
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