{"id":126544,"date":"2021-04-02T11:48:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T15:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=126544"},"modified":"2021-04-02T11:48:53","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T15:48:53","slug":"collective-caricom-voice-for-recovery-at-imf-world-bank-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/collective-caricom-voice-for-recovery-at-imf-world-bank-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Collective CARICOM voice for recovery at IMF-World Bank meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-4078831752\" class=\"antig-ecab antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-3902646003\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"mbs ad\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-ad.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-ad.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-ad.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-ad.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mbs-ad.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>By Sir Ronald Sanders\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"antig-2729457518\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB-1.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB-1.png 2160w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB-1.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:512\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:384\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB-1.png 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:768\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB-1.png 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English_Digital-BB-1.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1080\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto.\u00a0\u00a0The views expressed are entirely his own)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The response by policy makers of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to the depth of COVID-19\u2019s effects on Caribbean economies needs to be urgently reviewed, particularly regarding debt.<\/p><div id=\"antig-831219979\" class=\"antig-content_4 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-1759046446\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB (1)\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB-1.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB-1.png 2160w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB-1.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:512\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:384\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB-1.png 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:768\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB-1.png 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_2026_Launch_English-_lineup_Digital-BB-1.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1080\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An unduly optimistic assessment of the extent of damage to economies and an overly confident expectation of how long the effects will last, have resulted in inadequate instruments to help Caribbean countries get out of the hole into which they have been sunk through no fault of their own.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Caribbean countries did not create the pandemic and they have been among the most successful in containing it at great cost to their Treasuries.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2756196341\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReggaeInTheParkAntigua\" aria-label=\"lucanio\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lucanio.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lucanio.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lucanio.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lucanio.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lucanio.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) and the Directors on the Boards, representing CARICOM countries, deserve credit for advancing the region\u2019s interests.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The inadequacy of the IFIs response is not their fault; it is entirely due to Board directors of some larger countries who remain stuck to mistaken policy positions whose failures have enlarged the harmful effects of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of these continuing unhelpful policy positions is the application of per capita income as a criterion to deny high income Caribbean countries access to concessionary loans, even though these countries are subject to the same vulnerabilities as lower income countries.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3032455311\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"500X500 (1)\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Something of a breakthrough might have occurred.\u00a0\u00a0The World Bank Board has approved the preparation of loan documents of $100 million each for the Bahamas and Barbados \u2013 two of the countries with the highest per capita incomes in CARICOM \u2013 \u201cdue to their heavy reliance on tourism\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is an admission that the Board of the Bank has accepted vulnerability as a criterion, that is superior to high income, as a qualification for concessionary loans.\u00a0\u00a0It is to be assumed, therefore, that, if these loans are approved by the Board in the coming weeks, this criterion can now be applied to other high-income CARICOM countries such as Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts-Nevis.\u00a0\u00a0CARICOM Finance Ministers at the Spring Meetings of the Bank and Fund should raise this issue collectively.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing so, is especially relevant since countries that might have been \u201chigh income\u201d, according to IMF\/WBG measurements, in 2019, are certainly not so today.\u00a0\u00a0High unemployment, resulting from the pandemic, has shaved as much as 30 % from per capita income in some countries and is likely to reduce it even more as unemployment increases and poverty expands.<\/p><div id=\"antig-4025464080\" class=\"antig-content_3 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"CM key_WEB 1300x300_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1301\/h:301\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/CM-key_WEB-1300x300_1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1301\/h:301\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/CM-key_WEB-1300x300_1.jpg 1301w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:69\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/CM-key_WEB-1300x300_1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:237\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/CM-key_WEB-1300x300_1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:178\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/CM-key_WEB-1300x300_1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1301\" height=\"301\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amid all this, the IFIs response to high and crippling debt in many CARICOM countries that has spiralled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has increased their debt service burdens.\u00a0\u00a0While the Bank and Fund have explicitly stated that debt levels were, for some, more than 100 % of GDP prior to the pandemic, the debt instruments that they have provided are burdensome.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1809328587\" class=\"antig-content_6 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an example, the IMF\u2019s Debt Service Suspension Initiative is only temporary.\u00a0\u00a0It is also applicable only to the poorest countries.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Therefore only 5 CARICOM countries qualified. The initiative is supposedly to help them cope with the economic and fiscal constraints caused by the COVID-19 crisis.\u00a0\u00a0But it gives only a one-year grace with repayment having to be made over 5 years.\u00a0\u00a0Clearly, there will be an increase in the debt service burdens of these countries.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The duration of the pandemic\u2019s effects on CARICOM economies and its severe impact, will be longer than anticipated.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Countries, such as Guyana and Suriname, with their oil and gas resources will be better placed, but Post-COVID, many CARICOM countries will have much reduced economies, high debt, diminished revenues, and little capacity to recover.\u00a0\u00a0The UN has already said that the Caribbean will face \u2018a lost decade\u2019 with economies and per capita income declining to 2010 levels.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They will need access to low-cost financing and grants from both IFI\u2019s and donor governments.\u00a0\u00a0Immediately, they need debt relief in the forms of write-offs and deferral of repayments on easier terms.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If these initiatives are not taken, Caribbean economies will be caught in a poverty trap from which they will not emerge for a generation and, even then, only if they experience no disasters such as hurricanes, prolonged droughts, or flooding \u2013 all of which have a high probability of occurring.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The governments of CARICOM countries are struggling to keep their economies afloat with policy initiatives either to revive dormant activities, such as agricultural and fisheries production, or to encourage new technology-based endeavours.\u00a0\u00a0These will help with economic diversification over time, but they will not be immediate large contributors to economic growth or replacements for industries such as tourism.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Spring meetings of the Bank and Fund are an opportunity for robust presentations of the plight of CARICOM countries, always recalling they did not originate or spread COVID-19.\u00a0\u00a0They are in their current situation because of their vulnerability to their trading partners which, without exception, enjoy relatively large trade surpluses with the region. Some of these same trading partners are among the most vociferous in the continued application of mistaken criteria that disqualify many CARICOM countries from concessionary financing and debt relief.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this month\u2019s meetings of the IMF\/WBG, Caribbean representatives have an opportunity to advance proposals for support.\u00a0\u00a0One of the points that should be made is that, since the huge balance of trade surplus that rich countries enjoy with CARICOM states runs into billions of dollars perennially, giving them revenues and employment, they should regard debt forgiveness and rescheduling, as well as concessional financing, as investments in CARICOM countries from which they derive considerable benefits annually.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the economies of CARICOM countries are not helped to recover, there will be a corresponding contraction in their ability to continue to buy goods and services from the rich.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Efforts must be made to create a framework that integrates debt sustainability, growth-investment, and building resilience for CARICOM countries.\u00a0\u00a0Such a framework must also take full account of the region\u2019s vulnerability to destructive forces they do not create, such as Climate Change.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CARICOM countries should speak with a collective voice in proposing such a framework to the IMF\/WBG meetings, omitting no country.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Responses and previous commentaries:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sirronaldsanders.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.sirronaldsanders.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1617381416121000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGHR89lAVoqDq90bDqY2YR_3qZFgw\">www.sirronaldsanders.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"antig-189922557\" class=\"antig-in-comments_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/@hadeedmotorsltd\" aria-label=\"Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Sir Ronald Sanders\u00a0 (The writer is Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto.\u00a0\u00a0The views expressed are entirely his own)\u00a0 The response by policy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":125552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - 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