POINTE MICHEL, Dominica—Hundreds of her country people and scores of dignitaries from throughout the Caribbean were in the small parish church in this little village on the outskirts of the capital of Dominica Sept. 14 to attend the funeral of Dame Mary Eugenia Charles. The first woman prime minister in the Caribbean, she led her country from 1980 until 1995 when she retired from politics at the age of 76.

When she was prime minister few knew about Dominica, much less about her, but that was all to change in 1983 when the revolutionary government in Grenada imploded and its leader Maurice Bishop was murdered. As the situation there deteriorated rapidly, then Grenada Gov. General Sir Paul Scoon urgently appealed for help to Charles, who at the time was also the chair of the seven-member Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

She, in turn, contacted President Ronald Reagan who dispatched U.S.-led troops to liberate Grenada. The rest is history but her action brought worldwide instant fame to her and Dominica. It is unlikely that any other Dominican will ever achieve such prominence. A staunch anti-communist during the Cold War era, Charles became known as “the Iron Lady of the Caribbean.”

During her tenure in office her country was buffeted by a number of hurricanes, attempted coups against her government, the virtual collapse of the country’s banana industry, and the reduction in foreign aid. Her major challenge was how to grow Dominica’s handicapped economy of scale.

Following her retirement in 1995 she watched from the sidelines as the fortunes of the Freedom Party rapidly declined. The control of the government passed to the United Workers Party, which was only to be in office for one term, and then to the Dominica Labour Party, which is still in charge today. In the elections earlier this year her Freedom Party lost all of its seats in parliament.

“A giant of Caribbean leadership"

“Dame Eugenia’s memory and mental capacity to absorb what was going on around her was fading and in the opinion of some close to her, she had lost the will to live by the time she fell and fractured her left hip and was flown to Martinique for treatment,” recalled historian Lennox Honychurch, her close friend and loyal ally. “Her passing removes yet another of the giants of Caribbean leadership who were active in the latter part of the 20th century.”

Present Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit took office in 2004 following the premature deaths of his two predecessors, prime minister Roosevelt Douglas and Pierre Charles.  His conduct during the funeral reflected his admiration for Eugenia Charles, and virtually everyone spoken to in Dominica praised Skerrit and indicated that he will have widespread support as he moves forward in his efforts to turn the economy of his country around. It will not be easy since the banana industry is in trouble and contracting while tourism cannot take off because of several handicaps.

No representative of the U.S. government nor the government of Puerto Rico attended the funeral which surprised some and disappointed others. Caribbean observers attributed those absences to misunderstandings over the private nature of the burial.

Present in a private capacity and an old friend of Dame Eugenia was former U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean State (including Dominica) Philip Hughes who served under President George H.W. Bush. Also attending were former prime ministers Sir John Compton (St. Lucia) and Sir James Mitchell (St. Vincent & the Grenadines) and Dominica-born U.S. Virgin Islands Senator Patrick Louis Hill, among others.

“Dame Eugenia was my closest friend in the Caribbean,” recalled Hughes. “She was a great friend of Victoria, my wife, and I and visited us in Washington. She was assumed to have Alzheimer’s Disease and in recent years she became silent and did not travel. Sadly she was unable to attend the funeral of President Reagan last year.”

After her funeral some of her closest friends, including Bernard Yankey, Foreign Minister Charles Savarin, former minister Charles Maynard, Compton, Mitchell, Hughes and some of her family discussed the most appropriate manner in which to preserve her memory.

Dame Eugenia Charles Center for Leadership

“She was always interested in molding future leaders and had established the Eugenia Charles Foundation to assist young Dominicans in obtaining education abroad as she had,” said Hughes. “Out of the discussions evolved the idea of establishing a “Dame Eugenia Charles Center for Caribbean Leadership” in her former home. Some talked of a museum but she would have loved the concept of a leadership center involving youth.”

Indicating that he is impressed by the 33-year old Skerrit, Hughes said “he is a capable young man who can take Dominica to a higher level from where Dame Eugenia left off. I’m confident he will take his people to another level. He deserves all of the support from the world community in helping to turn around his country.”

[What's Happening in the Caribbean]
[A look at John Collins]