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Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, at a press conference on Monday 15th January, condemned the recent derogatory remarks made by President of the United States, Donald Trump, in respect to Haiti and other developing countries.

The Prime Minister said that this country stands with CARICOM in condemning the views that were reportedly expressed by President Trump when he referred to Haiti, El Salvador and Africa as “s***hole countries”.

He added that President Trump more than likely may not pay any attention to countries in the Caribbean, because if he thinks of Haiti in that light, he may think of all the Caribbean countries as such.

According to Prime Minister Gonsalves, “You cannot understand the extent of under-development in these countries without understanding that Europe and the United States underdeveloped these countries”. He stated that the good thing to come out from President Trump's comments is that people will hopefully educate themselves on the countries that he mentioned, and learn more about them.

Dr. Gonsalves reaffirmed that as a country, we must criticise President Trump’s comments, but stressed that it should be used as a teaching moment, and that we should “arm ourselves with knowledge and to study and use that knowledge to lift ourselves”. He further stressed that “we should use that knowledge to steel ourselves against ignorance like this, and put us in a position to uplift and carry us on a different path out of underdevelopment to development”.

SOURCE: API