WAS ANTIGUA'S CONTINUED ABUSE OF ITS CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT (CIP) PROGRAM A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR FOR THIS WEEK'S UNITED STATES ACTION AGAINST IT?

While most observers believe the principal reason the current American administration has been taking assertive steps in the Caribbean not seen since the invasions of Grenada and Panama, it is important to understand that the continued abuse, by the five Eastern Caribbean states offering economic citizenships, has not gone unnoticed by the United States. While the open love affair with autocratic states that oppose America, being carried on by the leftist leaders of St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua and Grenada appears to have caused this sea change in American foreign policy in the Caribbean, the passport issue is also important to consider as a contributing factor.

Antigua has a long and sordid history of allowing holders of its CIP program to take commit transnational crime with impunity. We only need to look at the cases of the billionaire Indian fraudster MEHUL CHOKSI, and of the Colombian money launderer ALEX SAAB, among many others, to know that the government of Antigua & Barbuda has richly profited for years onboard the exploitation of its CIP program, and the US has most certainly noticed the abuse.

While at this point, many will point to other actions of Antigua's quintessentially arrogant Prime Minister, such as the Russian luxury yacht scandal, blatant corruption at the highest level, election fraud, his alliance with the Maduro regime in Venezuela, and the Hong Kong-style Chinese enclave being built in Antigua, as the principal reasons for the American action on visas, and the threatened designation as a "Concerned Country," we will find that the CIP was a contributing factor to American pushback against Antigua.

What should be understood is that the visa blocks are only the first American step, to rein in what the US perceived as a Caribbean infected with corruption from Chinese actors, and en emerging National Security in its sphere of influence; Stay tuned, and the senior leadership in the Eastern Caribbean are advised to engage the services of competent criminal defense attorneys, who practice law in the United States.