The Next Foul Gets the Red Card

I’ve been trying hard to figure out our geopolitical contortions of late – even more so since the prime minister announced that he will not phase out the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP), no matter how much fuss the European Union (EU) kicks up.

I’ve listened to his rationale and to his resolve that he will defend our sovereignty and economic stability, and wondered why this determination was not demonstrated 11 months ago when the third-country-deportees deal was brought up.

Personally, I’m convinced that the CIP will phase itself out before the given deadline of June 2028.  After all, when a chef goes out to buy snapper and there’s none at the market, it's unlikely that he’ll settle for doctor fish.

After this Administration lowered the CIP guardrails, the main selling point (pardon the pun) of the Antigua and Barbuda passport became its visa-free travel to Canada and the Schengen Area of Europe.  And while we always required a visa to visit the United States, there were no barriers to our application. Consider our present situation and ask yourselves, objectively, who needs our passport now?

When the US visa ban and bond were put in place, many locals shrugged it off, saying, “Oh po!  There are so many other places in the world to see.”  There are. But, truthfully, how many of them are we – English-speaking, western-cultured, US-dollar-spending, mostly Black people – inclined to visit?  How many of us are just dying to see Albania, Kosovo, or Ukraine?  And if the cruise lines will even allow us to board a traditional Mediterranean cruise, are we prepared to stay on the ship each time it docks because our passport can’t take us ashore?

It's popular, too, to say we should see more of our own Caribbean. But, first, it’s not ours anymore (try accessing the beaches even at home).  Second, it’s much cheaper to visit the United States – airfare, food, shopping – than many of these islands, especially those up North, like the Caymans, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, and Bermuda.  And Cuba has neither electricity nor food to spare these days… .

Just as popular is the notion of visiting Africa – which, interestingly, most have never even attempted to do all these decades; not even the most “conscious.”  Now, when South Africa is kicking out even its once-allied neighbours, like Nigerians, I can’t imagine it being too welcoming to us.  And nobody seems to know who this Air Peace connection is actually connecting or whether we’re being duped again.

But that’s all fun and games, one might say.  What about the other, cold, uncomfortable scenarios?  What else is at risk with these new geopolitical realities? What happens, say, if the United States and the European Union slap some travel restrictions on us and the tourists we’ve come to depend on simply flock to the US and British Virgin Islands, Florida, South Carolina, and the Mediterranean, leaving us here with room stock to spare after CHOGM?

There’s been talk about lessening our dependency on the United States and forming trade relations with other countries, including Panama, the Dominican Republic, and India. Ok. So who is to make this happen?  The prime minister who signed the controversial MoU with the US State Department?  The intelligent and skilled negotiator in Washington who was unaware of what was hanging over us? Or the mouse-quiet minister of foreign affairs and trade who was kept out of the loop?

With our dollar pegged to that of the United States (and our latest obsession with placing politicians’ faces on our money), in what new currency will we be trading?  At what cost will goods be shipped from these more-distant ports?  And what will the import duties be?  After all, when we lose the CIP revenues, something must replace them – cos we’ve got lots of loans to repay; free university tuition to grant; and promised Social Security increases to deliver.

Are the authorities considering the possibility of these things happening; and, if so, what is the Plan B?  If there’s one, when will they sit down with us – the public, the taxpayers, the victims – and show us how they’ll navigate the future they’ve inflicted upon this country?

Surrendering without a fight on the third-country-deportees matter while fighting to the death on the CIP matter is engendering absolutely no confidence in this captain and his team.  We see no coordination, no strategy, no goalposts, even. Everywhere they run, the referee is crying “Foul!” and Antigua and Barbuda is shown the yellow card. Next step is the red … .

We’re now at the semi-finals of this international game.  In the name of all that’s sovereign and stable, can we begin to play ball and stop being the football?