CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington has expressed “a sense of profound loss and deep personal sadness” over the passing of Lloyd Algernon Best, whom he described as “one of the Caribbean’s greatest sons.”
The Secretary-General said in a statement released by the CARICOM Secretariat that “the force of Lloyd Best’s ideas are best gauged by the passion with which he advocated “Independent thought and Caribbean freedom”. According to Carrington, “that passion has inspired many and has influenced political and economic discourse for over four decades.”
Carrington noted also that Best was never one to be daunted, and he remained to the end, “dynamic, stimulating and provocative,” leaving a legacy to the Region.
The Secretary-General recalled that when Best was awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) in 2003 at the 14th Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in his native Trinidad and Tobago, his citation included the following description: “Best is without doubt one of the most fertile minds in the Caribbean and has bestrode the regional intellectual world like a colossus.” Truer words, Carrington said, have never been spoken and that investiture was “one of my proudest moments as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community.”
Carrington noted that he had known Lloyd Best since his student days and, like many others, “could not fail to be influenced by his sharp intellect, incisive debating skills, and his relentless search for truth and honest discourse.” Carrington offered sincerest condolences to Best’s wife Sunity, his children and grand-children.
