Prime Minister Gaston Browne says Antigua and Barbuda and the United States
continue to enjoy ‘very good’ relations that are built on mutual respect for each
other.
PM Browne was at the time commenting on a recent Newsweek Magazine article
‘China Building new outposts on US doorsteps, leaked documents reveal’,
written by Didi Kirsten Tatlow. The article alleges that ‘The Chinese state is
expanding rapidly in the Caribbean island of Antigua, part of a regional expansion
that concerns the U.S. military’.
Speaking on Point FM radio on Saturday, the prime minister strongly rejected the
claims made in the article and accused the writer of trying to sully the relationship
between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States.
“At the end of the day, you can see there was a political slant in which the (writer)
was trying to create acrimony between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States.
The US understands our position very well. In fact, I would have spoken to at least
two (US) ambassadors and I have also held discussions with higher level officials
in the US State Department,” he explained.
PM Browne also spoke of his relationship both with President Biden and former
President Barrack Obama. “I can say comfortably that I am known by President
Biden, who has had his staff reach out to me to get my views on a number of
topics. So, I can say that the relationship between Antigua and Barbuda and the
United States is a strong one and we respect the United States as the most
important source market for tourists to the country. It is also the most important
market in terms of our imports with 80 percent of what we consume is imported
with most of that coming from the United States. In fact, if we don’t have the food
boats coming each week from the United States our people would starve,” he
emphasized.
The country’s leader underscored the valued of the relationship between Antigua
and Barbuda and the US stating clearly that the US is both an ally and a friend and
that ‘nothing will change that’.
He accused the UPP of ‘influencing’ the allegations being made in the article
which he dismissed as ‘sensational’ and one which is trying to create a ‘fictional’
issue between the US and Antigua and Barbuda.
The prime minister emphasized that Antigua and Barbuda would never side with
one country against the other, and in the case of the United States, the relationship
and other interests are so strong that going against the US would tantamount to
going against the country’s own self-interest.
