Punta Gorda, Roatan in Honduras, is the first Garifuna settlement in Central America. Ithas the privilege of being home to the first statue of the Right Excellent Joseph Chatoyer Paramount Chief of the Caribs (Garifuna), in the world.
On April 12, 1997, in the framework of the Commemoration of the Garifuna Bicentennial, in Punta Gorda, Roatan, President Carlos Roberto Reina (RIP) and the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines James Mitchell, unveiled a statue sculpted in bronze, in honor of Right Excellent Joseph Chatoyer, Paramount Garifuna Chief in St. Vincent.
This is the only existing statue of the Paramount Chief of the Garifuna Peoples in the entire world.
The inscription reads in Garifuna and Spanish.
12 April 1797 - 12 April 1997
In the Year of the Garifuna Bicentennial
Homage to the descendants of Satuye and Barauda two hundred years later to build a new history of justice and development in equal opportunities.
National Coordinator of Black Organizations of Honduras C.N.O.N.H.
Garifuna Bicentennial Committee
Central American Black Organization O.N.E.C.A.
José Santos Guardiola Municipal Corporation.
Roatan Municipal Corporation
Dr. Roberto Pastor Fasquelle
Honduras Minister of Culture, Arts and Sports.
Dr. Carlos Roberto Reina
Constitutional President of the Republic of Honduras
Source: ODECO
