Barbados makes its debut as a new Caribbean Republic

Bridgetown, Nov 30 (Prensa Latina) Barbados debuted Tuesday as a new Republic, after putting an end to the remnants of the colonial past and placing one of its women as head of state in place of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

The republican status began in the first minute Tuesday with the inauguration of Sandra Mason as President, who said the country will maintain its “traditions, heritage and patrimony, earned through the sweat of Barbadians and inherited from our forefathers.”

In a speech at the ceremony that ended colonial ties and ushered a new historical era, Mason, a 72-year-old former jurist, insisted on the unity of her compatriots to move the country forward as a Republic.

Since the Independence (1966) we have built an international reputation anchored on our characteristics, national values, stability and successes, with a clear sense of who we are and what we are capable of achieving, she stressed.

He said the country now sets its compass in a new direction in a more complex, fractured and turbulent world.

From today, on the 55th anniversary of its independence, Barbados is the fourth country of London’s former possessions in the Caribbean to remove the British monarch as head of state. Previously, Guyana (1970), Trinidad and Tobago (1976) and Dominica (1978).