As congratulations flowed in from across the world Saturday afternoon, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley was among the first leaders from within the Caribbean to hail United States President-elect Joe Biden on his success at the polls.

In a statement posted on social media, Mottley said America had spoken and the world was inspired.

“The people and Government of Barbados warmly congratulate President -elect Joe Biden and his Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, the first woman and person of colour to hold that position,” she said.

“I am sure that we in the Caribbean will look forward with optimism to working wit the new administation to confront a number of global issues from the awful pandemic to to the climate crisis to the pursuit of racial justice.”

Her statement came as at least three major media outlets: CNN, BBC and the Associated Press (AP) called Pennsylvania state and its 20 electoral votes in favour of Biden—with an electoral college total of 284 votes.

Biden needed 270 electoral college votes to secure his spot in history as the 46th president of the United States.

The win is arguably a stanch declaration by the voting American public which has effectively rejected Republican incumbent Donald Trump’s tumultuous leadership and embraced Biden’s promise to fight the coronavirus pandemic and fix the economy in a divided nation.

Mottley, in her statement, said there was much work for the world to do if it is to lift up the people across the globe “to fight these issues that know no boundareis but require character and leadership to defeat them”.