Former St. Vincent Prime Minister, Sir James Mitchell, Passes

BEQUIA, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Wednesday, November 24, 2021) — Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell, 90, died at his home in Bequia, yesterday morning.

The former prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines had been ailing for several weeks, and returned home, last Thursday, from Barbados, where he had been hospitalised.

Born on May 15, 1931, Sir James was first elected to Parliament in 1966. He formed the New Democratic Party in 1975 and, in 1984, led his Party to a 10-3 victory over the St. Vincent Labour Party. He was the nation’s second Prime Minister and served as Head of government until 2000, when he retired.

He is survived by four daughters, several grandchildren, other close relatives, thousands of loyal supporters and friends.

Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Antiguan Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, expressed deepest sympathy at the passing of Sir James ‘Son’.

Prime Minister Browne telephoned Dr. Ralph Gonsalves this morning, to convey the condolences of the Caribbean Community’s Heads of Government to the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the death of one of their iconic figures.

The CARICOM Chair recalled that Sir James has served for 16 years as Prime Minister of his country and, during that time, was an active regionalist, promoting several initiatives for the deepening of integration in the region.

Browne also noted that Sir James had been an active advocate of the idea of a political union of the countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States in the early 1980s.

“The region has lost a true champion of our CARICOM integration and a significant figure in advancing the region’s causes in the global community. We join the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, especially the people of the island of Bequia, where he was born and in which he spent his happiest times,” Prime Minister Brown concluded.