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Good luck George
THA Deputy Chief Secretary Watson Duke is calling for self-determination for Tobago.
The Duke, the constituency representative for Roxborough/Argyle, was speaking during the Invest Tobago town hall meeting of the Caribbean Diaspora Investment Forum at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, on Monday.
He said there is a need for Tobago to be on equal status with Trinidad.
“Tobago is not an island equal to Trinidad. Since 1889, we have never been—and this is a matter of law—we have never been equal: we are a ward of Trinidad.”
“Tobago’s problem is not in Trinidad because our families exist there. They are our brothers and sisters. Tobago’s problem is PNM.
“We want equal rights and justice. Give us our equal rights and justice with Trinidad.
“Even though we’re a Trinidadian ward, what it simply means is, they care about us. If we want an ID card, it has to be done in Trinidad. If you want a pair of glasses, that has to be made in Trinidad – anything (imported), has to come through Trinidad. The flour you eat: comes through Trinidad. The sugar you eat: it comes through Trinidad.”
He said deep inside, he has a dream for Tobago to be equal.
“I never wanted to be the normal politician, I wanted to be myself, I don’t want to be without ANR Robinson, I don’t want to be without Patrick Manning, without Eric Williams, I don’t want to be no Martin. Luther King, Nelson Mandela – I just wanted to be myself.”
He said in his mind, independence in 1962 and Republic status in 1976 should have lifted Tobago.
“Then PNM was also in charge, they don’t care.
“As long as we are one, we cannot plan our budget, we cannot do anything. They have to give us whatever they feel like giving us, whenever they feel like giving us – that’s what they’re going to do.
“But as an island on (an) equal footing, we can simply have the right to look elsewhere. We can have the right to create our own economic plan, our social development, etc.”
He said that as a result Tobago needs self-determination.
“Self-determination is indeed a cardinal principle rooted in international law. Self-determination really says that the people of Tobago…would sit down and be able to determine their own political status.”
“Whether we want to be completely independent, we have that right – if we want to be in a relationship: interdependent like Trinidad and Tobago, or if we want to have an association like the European Union – they are an association; The UN – they are an association. We never had the chance to decide.”
He said all diasporas should stand up and say to the PNM in Trinidad, “It’s time to free our people back home.”
“We don’t ask for division. We don’t ask to go it alone. We want to be connected to Trinidad, if possible to connect to the rest of the Caribbean.
“(But) we must have the right to define ourselves, our political status. We must have the right to freely develop our economic, social and cultural development – we must define that.”
In 2019, the Duke said in a press conference that it was time to free Tobagonians from “slavery” – not through internal self-government, but through full independence from Trinidad. He said this separation was not a call for war, but rather for Tobago to have the opportunity to unlock its ability to grow its economy.
