Camillo Gonsalves
*Camillo Gonsalves was born on this date in 1972. He is a Black Vincentian politician, lawyer, and diplomat.
Camillo Michael Gonsalves was born in Philadelphia to Ralph E. Gonsalves, the current Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and his then-wife, Sonia V. Gonsalves, a Professor of Psychology at Stockton University. Gonsalves obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC. He also has a Master of Science in Global Affairs from New York University.
Career and politics
Gonsalves worked as a journalist in Philadelphia before graduating from law school and then as a corporate litigation attorney in Washington, DC. He worked as a Senior Crown Counsel for the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines before being appointed to diplomatic postings. In November 2007, Gonsalves became St. Vincent and the Grenadines' Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In September 2013, Gonsalves was appointed as a senator in the House of Assembly of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and renounced his U.S. citizenship before taking up the position.
He was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Consumer Affairs, and Information Technology. In 2015, Gonsalves was elected to the House of Assembly after successfully contesting the seat for the constituency of East St. George. On December 14, 2015, he was sworn in as Minister of Economic Planning, Sustainable Development, Industry, Trade, Information, and Labor.
In a surprise cabinet reshuffle in November 2017, Gonsalves took on the responsibility of the finance ministry - a portfolio his father had held since his Unity Labor Party administration came to government in 2001, becoming Minister of Finance, Economic Planning, and Sustainable Development. He was re-elected for a second consecutive term in the November 2020 elections and is the current Minister of Finance, Economic Planning, and Information Technology of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the current representative for the constituency of East St. George.
