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Barbados made its transition to the Republic official, after its past as a British colony. The island replaced the monarch Elizabeth II as head of state and at the head of the country was Judge Sandra Mason, who became the nation’s first president.
Barbados says goodbye to the British Monarchy and becomes a Republic. After 396 years, the reign of the British monarchy over the Caribbean island ended with a handover ceremony that marked the birth of the youngest Republic in the world.
Several world leaders, artists and dignitaries, including Prince Charles of England and Barbadian singer Rihanna, attended the ceremony, which began Monday night and continued until the early hours of Tuesday, November 30, in the popular Plaza de the Heroes, in the capital, Bridgetown.
Right there stood the statue of British Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, which was removed last year amid a worldwide push to erase symbols of racist oppression.
#BIMRepublic: The first 21 gun Salute to the Nation in a post republic Barbados; President Sandra Mason, Prime Minister Mia Mottley, HRH Prince of Wales, National Heroes @rihanna & Sir Garfield Sobers stand together for the National Anthem of Barbados 🇧🇧 pic.twitter.com/Z7SkTf6Ccu
– Kevz Politics 🇧🇧 (@KevzPolitics) November 30, 2021
With the firing of 21 artillery rounds, while the national anthem sounded, the island sealed a historic moment.
As the clock showed 12 p.m., the Royal Standard flag representing Queen Elizabeth II was lowered over the busy square and Carol Roberts-Reifer, executive director of the National Cultural Foundation, made the declaration of the transition of Barbados to its new constitutional status.
The Supreme Court swore in lawyer and judge Sandra Mason, who became the first female president of Barbados. He took an oath of allegiance to his country, while hundreds of people applauded.
“The Republic of Barbados has set sail on its maiden voyage (…) Our country must have big dreams and fight to make them come true”, declared Mason in his inauguration speech after recognizing the “complex, fractured and turbulent world” in which he will have to lead .
Barbados thus broke with its colonial history under the Monarchy of Elizabeth II, who is still queen of 15 other territories, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Jamaica.
“The creation of this Republic offers a new beginning (…) From the darkest days of our past and the gruesome atrocity of slavery that forever stains our history, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary strength,” said the Prince Charles, heir to the British Crown.
Barbados becomes a Republic 55 years after its independence
The island did not need permission from the United Kingdom to become a republic, and although it will remain a member of the Commonwealth Kingdom, it is a step that the Caribbean had not experienced since the 1970s, when Guyana, Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago became republics.
Following the ceremony, the territory severed almost all the colonial ties that have held the small island together with the United Kingdom since an English ship claimed it for King James I in 1625.
“On this important occasion and in your inauguration as the first president of Barbados, I extend my congratulations to you and to all the inhabitants of Barbados,” said Elizabeth II in a written message addressed to the new head of state and citizens in general.
The Queen has sent a message to the President and people of Barbados as it becomes a Republic within the Commonwealth:
– The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 30, 2021
The birth of the Republic comes 55 years after Barbados declared its independence. A path that opened in November 1966, more than three centuries after the English settlers arrived and turned the island into a rich sugar colony based on the work of hundreds of thousands of African slaves.
But in recent decades, Barbados began to distance itself from its past as part of a monarchy. In 2005, he left the London-based Privy Council and chose the Caribbean Court of Justice, based in Trinidad and Tobago, as his highest court of appeal.
Then, in 2008, it proposed a referendum to become a republic, which was postponed until last year Barbados announced plans to cease being a constitutional monarchy.
The Barbados flag, coat of arms and national anthem will remain the same, but certain references will change, local press reported.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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