Barbados dethrones Queen Elizabeth
It has been almost thirty years since Mauritius in 1992 since a former British colony broke its ties with the British Imperial Crown. Barbados has done so, and on 30 November it will no longer have Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, becoming a Republic, which will be presided over by former Governor General Sandra Mason, a 73-year-old veteran jurist.
The Caribbean island paradise of Barbados was the oldest colony of the British Empire, which occupied and ruled it continuously from 1627 to 1966. On 30 November 1966, Barbados proclaimed its independence, now initialled with this symbolic break.
It is indeed the definitive end of a long era, since Barbados was the testing ground for everything the British put into practice. First of all, they exterminated all the indigenous people, the Arawaks, starting with the landing in 1625 of Captain John Powell, who proclaimed the conquest and colonisation of the territory, known to the former Portuguese occupiers as Barbados, in the name of King James I.
Most important, however, was the introduction of slavery. According to Professor of Imperial History Richard Drayton, "it was in Barbados that the British first passed laws, which distinguished the rights of people they called "negroes" from those who were not. This established a practice in terms of economics and law that they would later carry over to Jamaica, the Carolinas and the rest of the Caribbean". It is thus the birthplace of British colonial slavery, a model that was later and successively replicated in the other conquered territories in the "New World", especially in what is now the United States of America. "A slave society ruled with an iron fist by British elites", according to historian Hilary Beckles, who describes how many of the colonists with good contacts and relations with London, "amassed great fortunes from their sugar plantations, thanks to an available slave labour force, while helping to turn England into an imperial superpower causing immense suffering".
The island's fertile land and abundance of water made Barbados a favourite destination for British nobles and military, who came to regard it as the 'Little Britain' or 'Crown Jewel' of the Caribbean. This love of the island's beautiful scenery and waters, as well as the hospitality of its population of just over 300,000, has made Barbados a favourite destination for British travellers.
This 30 November marks the end of 396 years of a shared history, which architects of the transition to republic, such as historian and journalist Suleiman Bulbulia, say must be told and explained to new generations.
Barbados, like 53 other countries, will remain a member of the Commonwealth, the community of nations of the former British Empire. But, in Bridgetown's National Heroes Square, there will no longer be the statue of Admiral Nelson, whose monument presided for 208 years over the different life - full of wealth and well-being for some, sadness and misery for others - of the capital and most important city of the colony that was the cradle of British slavery.