{"id":22161,"date":"2018-11-30T15:33:59","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T19:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=22161"},"modified":"2018-11-30T15:34:09","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T19:34:09","slug":"barbados-barbados-celebrates-52-years-of-political-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-barbados-celebrates-52-years-of-political-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbados celebrates 52 years of political independence"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-3706828146\" class=\"antig-ecab antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-3266112348\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"mbs may\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-may.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-may.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-may.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-may.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-may.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Barbados Friday celebrated its 52<sup>nd<\/sup>&nbsp;anniversary of political independence from Britain, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley saying the island has regained its ability to \u201cpunch above our weight again\u201d.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1926575256\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Mottley, the island\u2019s first woman prime minister, told citizens that \u201cBarbados shall forever be friends of all and satellites of none,\u201d an apparent reference to the present economic situation facing the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Barbados-Independence.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Barbados-Independence.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-211563\"\/><\/a><figcaption>Military Parade marking the 52nd anniversary of Barbados political independence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBarbados will join the clubs when we can afford to pay the dues,\u201d she warned.<\/p><div id=\"antig-4225697361\" class=\"antig-content_4 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-1714497737\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:166\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:566\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:425\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:696\/h:385\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1320\" height=\"730\"   \/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The island has had to seek support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to turn around an ailing economy and as she departed from tradition and delivered her Independence Message at the military parade at the Kensington Oval, Prime Minister Mottley said \u201cWe have come to Kensington Oval today on November 30, 2018, to say to the people of the world and to say to Barbadians that we too can punch above our weight again in this country\u201d.<\/p><div id=\"antig-858261991\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Prime Minister Mottley told the nation that her administration is planning a grand celebration for all Barbadians in 2020 as it would coincide with her administration\u2019s perfection for the brightest possible Barbados.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will be inviting all Barbadians, those by birth, those by marriage, those by choice to come home during the year 2020,\u201d she said, noting that the home-coming would start with the residents of the parish of St. Lucy in January 2020 until all the parishes are accounted for on a monthly basis ahead of November 29.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2032492878\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"500X500\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/500X500.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/500X500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/500X500.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/500X500.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd then from November 30, 2020 to the 31<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;of December we invite the whole nation to celebrate as we confirm the gathering 2020 on the people of Barbados. For this is our statement to our own and it is our statement to the people of the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mottley said that her administration would also be placing much emphasis on getting young people more involved in sports as well as learning foreign languages.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2019997002\" class=\"antig-content_3 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_1115\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>She said the young people would be given an opportunity \u2018to know what it is to play a sport because in playing a sport you learn to play together and to play in partnership with others.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3937217194\" class=\"antig-content_6 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo be exposed to an artistic discipline because being exposed to an artistic discipline you learn to think and you learn to care and you learn to be tolerant and finally to be exposed to entrepreneurship and business because nobody is going to give us a living in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe need to make a living in this world for ourselves,\u201d prime Minister Mottley told the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his first ever Independence Message, Opposition Leader, Bishop Joseph J.S. Atherley noted that as the island aspires to the achievement it contemplates over the next several decades \u201cwe need to resist any national posture which denies or defies the guidance we have relied on these past 300 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe deny and defy that guidance when we continue to perpetuate the institutionalized and systemic reality of majority poverty. We deny and defy that guidance when we devalue human worth and dignity. We deny and defy that guidance when we over embrace the secular while denigrating the sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe deny and defy that guidance when we mismanage and destroy our environment. We deny and defy that guidance when we discard or diminish the value and virtue of family, industry, community and take on the character of the inferior alternatives of cultural imports,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said part of the sober reality is that \u201cwe continue to expose our mothers, sisters, daughters to the erosion of their dignity through forced economic relationships, workplace exploitation and indecent wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHonest reflection suggests that we fail the morality test when we continue to boast of growing employment numbers while far too many experience the reality of persistent under-employment and the absence of job enrichment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOn reflection, we fall short of the morality threshold when we frustrate, stifle and put to death the aspirations of school leavers and graduates through a system that continues to prepare them annually for out-turn into a world of non-existent domestic opportunity. They then must settle for an unsatisfying and unfulfilling less \u2013than-the-best fit. A best which we do insufficient to create,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among those being honoured to mark the occasion were a distinguished early childhood educator, a retired business executive and a former chairman of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Retired educator Avisene Carrington has been made a Dame of St Andrew becoming the first centenarian to be conferred the island\u2019s highest award since the National Honours began in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kenneth Hewitt, a former chartered accountant, who acted as Governor General from August 28 to September 16, has been knighted for his contribution to the development of the international business sector, while attorney Philip Serrao was knighted has been recognised for his contribution to modernising the Barbados electoral system and its administrative process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the&nbsp; Secretary General of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Irwin LaRocque in extending congratulations from the Community to Barbados, highlighed the country\u2019s success as a nation and its role in the regional integration movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe success of Barbados in various fields, as an independent nation, have helped to define the possibilities of what a small nation state can achieve,\u201d LaRocque said, adding \u201cthese achievements should be a guiding light for the country as it confronts the challenges which currently beset it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Secretary General noted that the Prime Minister Mottley, who has lead responsibility for CARICOm Single Market and Economy (CSME) in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet, has no doubt recognized the platform that this regional initiative provides for Barbados, and indeed thee entire Community, to further growth and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am confident that under your guidance the implementation of the CSME will be significantly enhanced. I reaffirm my own commitment and that of the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat to work assiduously alongside you and your government in that regard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"antig-2233668162\" class=\"antig-in-comments_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/@hadeedmotorsltd\" aria-label=\"Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barbados Friday celebrated its 52nd&nbsp;anniversary of political independence from Britain, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley saying the island has regained its ability to \u201cpunch above our weight again\u201d. Mottley, the island\u2019s first woman prime minister, told citizens that \u201cBarbados shall forever be friends of all and satellites of none,\u201d an apparent reference to the present [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Barbados celebrates 52 years of political independence - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-barbados-celebrates-52-years-of-political-independence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barbados celebrates 52 years of political independence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barbados Friday celebrated its 52nd&nbsp;anniversary of political independence from Britain, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley saying the island has regained its ability to \u201cpunch above our weight again\u201d. 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