It was with great shock and profound sadness that the Caribbean Community learnt, early Sunday morning, of the death of the Prime Minister of Dominica, the Honourable Roosevelt Douglas at the age of 58.
Prime Minister Douglas was welcomed to the fold of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community only eight months ago when, in February this year, he led the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) to its first electoral victory since 1980.
The fifth Prime Minister of his island home, the Honourable Roosevelt Douglas had a passionate desire to propel his country to new levels of economic and social development and to raise the standard of living of his people. From the very beginning of his term of office, he embarked on a programme of visits to the major capitals of the world seeking to mobilise development finance and attract new investors to Dominica.
A student leader and Black Power activist, young Roosevelt Douglas – or Rosie as he was popularly known – became President of the West Indies Students Union at Mc Gill University in 1968. He came to international prominence in 1969 for his leadership role in the student activities at Sir George William University in Montreal, aimed at securing recognition and respect for Caribbean and Black students generally.
A student and proponent of Marxism – Leninism, he was not afraid to advocate this social and political approach to the ordering of economies and societies throughout the period of the Cold War.
Born into a political family, Rosie Douglas was in the forefront of Dominica’s fight for independence from Britain. He continued his political activities in Dominica after his deportation from Canada. In 1975, he founded the Popular Independence Committee as his political base, and served briefly as a Senator after the island won independence from Britain in 1978. His senatorship was truncated when, at the height of the Cold War, he invited Cuban troops to help Dominica in its reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane David in 1979. This did not, however, curtail his work with the masses among whom he was most comfortable and to whom he was known to have a deep and abiding commitment.
Rosie Douglas had a long period of preparation for the leadership of his country. He worked closely with opposition political parties and groups across the Region in the 1970s and 1980s and, with the changing of the political guard in the 1990s, came to leadership alongside many of those with whom he had earlier forged lasting personal and political relationships.
Rosie Douglas came into political prominence at about the same time as Pierre Trudeau of Canada. It is not without significance that their deaths occurred so closely: both men shared a firm belief in unity based on equality and justice.
Roosevelt Douglas will be remembered for his passion and commitment to the causes he espoused, not least of which was that of improving the lives of the common people, particularly those in his homeland of Dominica. As we mourn his loss, we cannot but recognise the indelible impression he has left on the hearts of all in the Region.
The Staff of the Secretariat join me in extending condolences to the bereaved family and to the Government and People of the Commonwealth of Dominica at his sudden passing.
May his soul rest in peace.
