Advice for the evangelist

THE EDITOR: The Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, never ceases to amaze. His latest pronouncement that he is the (self-proclaimed of course) “Evangelist of Caribbean Unity,” must win the accolade as his most silliest yet in the light of his political history. Certainly, it appears that every time he speaks on a podium in Trinidad and Tobago he comes across as little more than a chattering nabob with the usual (for him) excuse that he is not criticising anyone in particular.

I recently returned from Vincy Mas 2003, and while there I was surprised to hear the majority of the calypsos being so anti-government and, more particularly, so anti-the good Doctor himself. Surprised, because always on his many visits here, he has given the impression that he and his government are so popular there. Honestly, I felt like being in Trinidad carnival during the last two years of the Panday administration. It became rather easy to understand why he has been so much in the fore-front of a move towards political integration with Trinidad and Tobago. Believe me, if the calypsonians are to be believed (and the goodly Doctor himself has been quoted as saying that calypsos mirror the society), the present government in SVG has become as unpopular as the one that it replaced not so long ago. Maybe Dr Gonsalves would do well to evangelise more at home so as to cultivate a more integrated Vincentian society.

DEREK HART
Woodbrook