Prime Minister Honored by Garifuna Delegation
St Vincent Dr. Hon. Godwin Friday was honored by members of the Garifuna community during a special reception held to celebrate the enduring historical and cultural ties between the Garifuna people and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The reception, hosted at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Diamond, brought together visiting Garifuna representatives from across the region and diaspora, along with government officials, cultural leaders and members of the Vincentian public.
During the ceremony, Garifuna leaders presented Prime Minister Friday with a commemorative plaque in recognition of his leadership and continued support for preserving Garifuna heritage and strengthening the relationship between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the global Garifuna community.
In accepting the honor, the Prime Minister expressed appreciation for the recognition and reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding the cultural legacy and history of the Garifuna people.
The event also highlighted the profound historical connection between the Garifuna people and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines known to them as Yurumein -the ancestral homeland from which their fore parents were exiled in the late 18th century.
Tribute was also paid to National Hero the Right Excellent Chief Joseph Chatoyer, whose courageous leadership and resistance continue to symbolize the struggle for identity, dignity and freedom for both Vincentians and Garifuna communities across the Caribbean and Central America.