Foreign relations of Antigua and Barbuda
Encyclopedia
Antigua and Barbuda
maintains diplomatic relations with the United States
, Canada
the United Kingdom
, and the People's Republic of China
, as well as with many Latin American countries and neighboring Eastern Caribbean states. It is a member of the United Nations
, the Commonwealth of Nations
, the Organization of American States
, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, Petrocaribe
and the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System
(RSS).
As a member of CARICOM, Antigua and Barbuda supported efforts by the United States to implement UN Security Council Resolution 940, designed to facilitate the departure of Haiti's de facto authorities from power. The country agreed to contribute personnel to the multinational force which restored the democratically elected government of Haiti in October 1994.
In May 1997, Prime Minister Bird joined 14 other Caribbean leaders and President Clinton for the first-ever U.S.-regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados. The summit strengthened the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counter-narcotics issues, finance and development, and trade.
Antigua and Barbuda is also a member of the International Criminal Court
with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US
-military (as covered under Article 98
).
Disputes - international:
none
Illicit drugs:
considered a minor transshipment
point for narcotics bound for the US and Europe; more significant as a drug-money-laundering center.
's independence from the United Kingdom
in 1981.
The United States
has supported the government of Antigua and Barbuda's effort to expand its economic base and to improve its citizens' standard of living. However, concerns over the lack of adequate regulation of the financial services
sector prompted the U.S. Government to issue a financial advisory for Antigua and Barbuda in 1999. The advisory was lifted in 2001, but the U.S. Government continues to monitor the Government of Antigua and Barbuda's regulation of financial services.
The United States also has been active in supporting post-hurricane disaster assistance and rehabilitation through the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Peace Corps
. U.S. assistance is primarily channeled through multilateral agencies such as the World Bank
and the Caribbean Development Bank
(CDB), as well as through the USAID office in Bridgetown
, Barbados
.
Antigua and Barbuda is strategically situated in the Leeward Islands
near maritime transport lanes
of major importance to the United States. Antigua has long hosted a U.S. military presence. A former U.S. Navy support facility, turned over to the government of Antigua and Barbuda in 1995, is now being developed as a regional Coast Guard
training facility.
Antigua and Barbuda's location close to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
makes it an attractive transshipment point for narcotics traffickers
. To address these problems, the United States and Antigua and Barbuda have signed a series of counter-narcotic
and counter-crime treaties and agreements, including a maritime law enforcement agreement (1995), subsequently amended to include overflight and order-to-land provisions (1996); a bilateral extradition
treaty (1996); and a mutual legal assistance treaty
(1996). In addition, Antigua and Barbuda receives counter-narcotics assistance and benefits from U.S. military exercise-related and humanitarian civic assistance construction projects.
In 2005, Antigua and Barbuda had 239,804 stay-over visitors, with nearly 28% of Antigua and Barbuda's visitors coming from the United States. It is estimated that 4,500 Americans reside in the country.
In 2005 both countries disputed a World Trade Organization
ruling over gambling law. In 2007 relations were strained when Antigua and Barbuda demanded sanctions worth $3.4bn imposed on the US for its failure to obey the WTO gambling ruling stating that "while we realise this is a significant step for Antigua and Barbuda to take, we feel we have no choice in the matter". Nevertheless, relations between the two countries are still strong.
agent resident in Antigua assists U.S. citizens in Antigua and Barbuda. The U.S. Embassy in Barbados is located in the Wildey Business Park, Wildey, St. Michael
.
. As of June 2009 it became a formal member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) international cooperation organization and the Caribbean oil alliance Petrocaribe
. In 2009 Antigua and Barbuda received US$50 million from Venezuela because of the country’s membership of these initiatives.
“We have benefited from these relationships and so we will continue to forge these alliances, whether it is with Venezuela, Cuba or whoever else that we feel is in the interest of Antigua and Barbuda and the sub-region,” said the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin Spencer
.
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
maintains diplomatic relations with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, as well as with many Latin American countries and neighboring Eastern Caribbean states. It is a member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
, the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States , created in 1981, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance between countries and dependencies in the Eastern Caribbean...
, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, Petrocaribe
Petrocaribe
Petrocaribe S. A. is a Caribbean oil alliance with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment. The alliance was launched in June 2005. The payment system allows for a few nations to buy oil on market value but only a certain amount is needed up front; the remainder can be paid...
and the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System
Regional Security System
The Regional Security System is an international agreement for the defence and security of the eastern Caribbean region.The Regional Security System was created out of a need for collective response to security threats, which were impacting on the stability of the region in the late 1970s and...
(RSS).
As a member of CARICOM, Antigua and Barbuda supported efforts by the United States to implement UN Security Council Resolution 940, designed to facilitate the departure of Haiti's de facto authorities from power. The country agreed to contribute personnel to the multinational force which restored the democratically elected government of Haiti in October 1994.
In May 1997, Prime Minister Bird joined 14 other Caribbean leaders and President Clinton for the first-ever U.S.-regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados. The summit strengthened the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counter-narcotics issues, finance and development, and trade.
Antigua and Barbuda is also a member of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-military (as covered under Article 98
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court . It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. As of 13 October 2011, 119 states are party to the statute...
).
Disputes - international:
none
Illicit drugs:
considered a minor transshipment
Transshipment
Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
point for narcotics bound for the US and Europe; more significant as a drug-money-laundering center.
Antigua and Barbuda – United States relations
Relations between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States have been friendly since Antigua and BarbudaAntigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
's independence from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1981.
The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
has supported the government of Antigua and Barbuda's effort to expand its economic base and to improve its citizens' standard of living. However, concerns over the lack of adequate regulation of the financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
sector prompted the U.S. Government to issue a financial advisory for Antigua and Barbuda in 1999. The advisory was lifted in 2001, but the U.S. Government continues to monitor the Government of Antigua and Barbuda's regulation of financial services.
The United States also has been active in supporting post-hurricane disaster assistance and rehabilitation through the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
. U.S. assistance is primarily channeled through multilateral agencies such as the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and the Caribbean Development Bank
Caribbean Development Bank
The Caribbean Development Bank is a financial institution which assists Caribbean nations in financing social and economic programs in its member countries...
(CDB), as well as through the USAID office in Bridgetown
Bridgetown
The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...
, Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
.
Antigua and Barbuda is strategically situated in the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
near maritime transport lanes
Sea lane
A sea lane or shipping lane is a regularly used route for ocean-going and Great Lakes vessels. In the time of sailing ships they were not only determined by the distribution of land masses but also the prevailing winds, whose discovery was crucial for the success of long voyages...
of major importance to the United States. Antigua has long hosted a U.S. military presence. A former U.S. Navy support facility, turned over to the government of Antigua and Barbuda in 1995, is now being developed as a regional Coast Guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
training facility.
Antigua and Barbuda's location close to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
makes it an attractive transshipment point for narcotics traffickers
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
. To address these problems, the United States and Antigua and Barbuda have signed a series of counter-narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
and counter-crime treaties and agreements, including a maritime law enforcement agreement (1995), subsequently amended to include overflight and order-to-land provisions (1996); a bilateral extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
treaty (1996); and a mutual legal assistance treaty
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty
A mutual legal assistance treaty is an agreement between two countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public laws or criminal laws...
(1996). In addition, Antigua and Barbuda receives counter-narcotics assistance and benefits from U.S. military exercise-related and humanitarian civic assistance construction projects.
In 2005, Antigua and Barbuda had 239,804 stay-over visitors, with nearly 28% of Antigua and Barbuda's visitors coming from the United States. It is estimated that 4,500 Americans reside in the country.
In 2005 both countries disputed a World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
ruling over gambling law. In 2007 relations were strained when Antigua and Barbuda demanded sanctions worth $3.4bn imposed on the US for its failure to obey the WTO gambling ruling stating that "while we realise this is a significant step for Antigua and Barbuda to take, we feel we have no choice in the matter". Nevertheless, relations between the two countries are still strong.
U.S. embassy officials
- AmbassadorUnited States Ambassador to Antigua and BarbudaThe United States Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda is the official representative of the government of the United States to the government of Antigua and Barbuda. The title of the ambassador is United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean and is concurrently the ambassador to...
- Mary M. OurismanMary M. OurismanMary Martin Ourisman is an American diplomat. She is the current U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, comprising the countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the... - Deputy Chief of Mission - O.P. Garza
- Political/Economic Counselor - Ian Campbell
- Consul General - Clyde Howard Jr.
- Regional Labor Attaché - Jake Aller
- Commercial Affairs - Jake Aller
- Public Affairs Officer - John Roberts
- Peace Corps Director - Marjorie Jeanchild
Embassies
The United States maintains no official presence in Antigua. The Ambassador and embassy officers are resident in Barbados and travel to Antigua frequently. However, a U.S. consularConsul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
agent resident in Antigua assists U.S. citizens in Antigua and Barbuda. The U.S. Embassy in Barbados is located in the Wildey Business Park, Wildey, St. Michael
Wildey, Saint Michael, Barbados
The Wildey area of the Parish of Saint Michael located roughly 4 km east of Bridgetown, it lies on the border with the Parish of Christ Church. Normally a very busy area with the ABC Highway, Wildey is one of the main convergence points for vehicles travelling either towards the capital-city...
.
Antigua and Barbuda – Venezuela relations
Antigua and Barbuda enjoys close relations with VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. As of June 2009 it became a formal member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) international cooperation organization and the Caribbean oil alliance Petrocaribe
Petrocaribe
Petrocaribe S. A. is a Caribbean oil alliance with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment. The alliance was launched in June 2005. The payment system allows for a few nations to buy oil on market value but only a certain amount is needed up front; the remainder can be paid...
. In 2009 Antigua and Barbuda received US$50 million from Venezuela because of the country’s membership of these initiatives.
“We have benefited from these relationships and so we will continue to forge these alliances, whether it is with Venezuela, Cuba or whoever else that we feel is in the interest of Antigua and Barbuda and the sub-region,” said the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin Spencer
Baldwin Spencer
Winston Baldwin Spencer is the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. He has been Prime Minister since March 24, 2004, when his party, the United Progressive Party , which he had led as the opposition party for several years, won a parliamentary election...
.
See also
- Antiguan and Barbudan diplomatic missions
- North American UnionNorth American UnionThe North American Union is a theoretical economic union, in some instances also a political union, of Canada, Mexico, and the United States...
- North American Free Trade AgreementNorth American Free Trade AgreementThe North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
- Free Trade Area of the AmericasFree Trade Area of the AmericasThe Free Trade Area of the Americas , , ) was a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce the trade barriers among all countries in the Americas but Cuba. In the last round of negotiations, trade ministers from 34 countries met in Miami, United States, in November 2003 to discuss the proposal...
- Third Border InitiativeThird Border InitiativeThe Third Border Initiative is an area of policy concerning United States and the Caribbean region. The phrase was especially made popular by the administration of the President of the United States George W. Bush. The Third Border Initiative was a reference to the Caribbean region's adjacent...
- Caribbean CommunityCaribbean CommunityThe Caribbean Community is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy...
- Caribbean Basin InitiativeCaribbean Basin InitiativeThe Caribbean Basin Initiative was a unilateral and temporary United States program initiated by the 1983 "Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act" . The CBI came into effect on January 1, 1984 and aimed to provide several tariff and trade benefits to many Central American and Caribbean countries....
(CBI) - Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership ActCaribbean Basin Trade Partnership ActThe Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act is a United States legislative act signed into law on May 18, 2000 by President Bill Clinton as part of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. This latter act, which also included the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000 , was intended to advance U.S...
- Western Hemisphere Travel InitiativeWestern Hemisphere Travel InitiativeThe Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative is a law of the United States that requires all travelers to show a valid passport or other approved secure document when traveling to the U.S. from areas within the Western Hemisphere. The purpose, according to the U.S. Department of State and U.S...
- Foreign relations of the United StatesForeign relations of the United StatesThe United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. The United States federal statutes relating to foreign relations can be found in Title 22 of the United States Code.-Pacific:-Americas:-Caribbean:...