{"id":37038,"date":"2019-06-09T14:07:17","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T18:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=37038"},"modified":"2019-06-09T14:07:17","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T18:07:17","slug":"commentary-the-us-and-the-caribbean-a-mutuality-of-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/commentary-the-us-and-the-caribbean-a-mutuality-of-interests\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: The US and the Caribbean: a mutuality of interests"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-1047562931\" 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-3262709428\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p><span lang=\"EN-US\">By Sir Ronald Sanders<\/span><\/p><div id=\"antig-1643464641\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:771\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:771\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 1143w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:214\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 214w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:732\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 732w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:1075\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:771\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 1097w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1143\" height=\"1600\"   \/><\/div>\n<p><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">(The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States.\u00a0\u00a0He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto.\u00a0\u00a0The views expressed are entirely his own)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Once again, I have drawn attention to the danger posed to countries of the Caribbean by the withdrawal of correspondent banking relations (CBRs) from regional banks by global banks in the US.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"antig-23538543\" 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-1331700092\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:166\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:566\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:425\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:696\/h:385\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1320\" height=\"730\"   \/><\/div>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">As lead speaker at the Opening of a Legislative Forum in the US House of Representatives on Capitol Hill as part of \u201cCaribbean-American Heritage Month\u201d on June 5, I told an audience representing the US Congress, the US Government, diplomats and US and Caribbean businessmen, the following:<\/span><\/p><div id=\"antig-1255431032\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">CBR\u2019s are the life blood of global commerce and human development.\u00a0They are as vital to the world as are air and sea transportation, telecommunications and the internet, and the fight to end communicable diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Without CBR\u2019s, nations will not be able to pay each other for purchases of basic things such as food and medicine and ordinary things like busses, trucks and motor cars.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"antig-1219778070\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_0783\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Without CBR\u2019s, the global financial and trading system would come to a halt, and affected countries will collapse into poverty from which recovery will be costly both in time and money, but more importantly in human life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">This grave threat has been hanging over the Caribbean now for almost half a decade; and it shows no sign of abating, despite statements to the contrary.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"antig-3893915071\" class=\"antig-content_3 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_1115\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Right now, in many parts of the Caribbean, most banks are reduced to having only one correspondent bank, and at an extremely high cost.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"antig-454842742\" 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><span lang=\"EN-US\">Not only have the fees for these CBR\u2019s reached prohibitively high levels, they are taking longer periods of time to deliver services because of heightened scrutiny. Where in the past a cross-border transaction could take 2 days, it can now take as long as two weeks from our smaller indigenous financial institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">The cost of doing business in our region is escalating, even as we try to cope with high debt, incurred largely to recover our countries from disasters that have increased in frequency and intensity, as a result of global warming and sea level rise that point like daggers at the heart of the existence of many of our island states.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">It is claimed \u2013 wrongfully \u2013 that Caribbean countries have weak anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regimes, and this is the reason why global banks in the US are withdrawing CBRs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">But, the two bodies, with the authority to determine the quality and standing of the regimes in the Caribbean, have judged most Caribbean countries to be in compliance with their rigorous standards. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">Those bodies are the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum.\u00a0\u00a0In some sectors of financial services, Caribbean legislative and enforcement machineries have been rated at a higher level of compliance than the US.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Nonetheless, the Caribbean faces the real danger of being \u2018de-banked\u2019, and to be cut off from the world\u2019s trading and financing system, including not being able to pay for its imports from the United States of America \u2013 the country that the region chooses as its major source market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">I went on to point out that \u201cthat if Caribbean economies diminish, the consequences will be increased unemployment, enlarged poverty, increased crime and the advent of economic refugees that will swell the numbers of those gathering on the US Southern border\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Earlier in the presentation, I had stressed that while the United States suffers a trade deficit with many countries and regions of the world, it enjoys a perennial trade surplus with the 14 independent countries of the Caribbean Community collectively, that increases every year.\u00a0\u00a0In 2015, the value of the US balance of trade surplus was $4.1 billion; in 2016, it rose to $4.6 billion, jumping to $5.5 billion in 2017, and escalating further to $7 billion in 2018.\u00a0\u00a0That money has provided profits for American companies and jobs for American people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">I also drew attention to the reality that, since the 1990s, US official development assistance to the region has steadily declined.\u00a0\u00a0In 2017, a year in which the US enjoyed a $5.5 billion trade surplus with CARICOM countries, the region, including Haiti, received a mere 0.9 percent of United States\u2019 global allocation of official development assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">These figures were not mentioned in complaint.\u00a0\u00a0For every country in the world has the right to decide to whom it provides assistance; to what extent it does so; and for what purposes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But, since the CARICOM region provides the US with an escalating trade surplus every year, the US should have an interest in the economic growth and prosperity of these nations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">In the final analysis,\u00a0\u00a0if Caribbean countries are unable to maintain a stable rate of economic growth or if they decline, they will no longer be able to purchase goods and services from the US, and the trade surplus which the US has continuously enjoyed will shrink and so too will the revenues and jobs that it generates in America.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Therefore, there is a symbiotic and mutual interest in the US-Caribbean relationship that must be recalibrated to ensure that, as the \u2018third border\u2019 of the US, the Caribbean remains a zone of peace and a stable economic and political space.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">That means that the US and Caribbean countries should set \u2013 and measure their relations \u2013 in the mutuality of their interests.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All issues should be discussed, including the hot button ones for the US, such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and even the role of China in the region, but they ought not to be the single prism through which relations are evaluated.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Today, most CARICOM countries are stable; democracy and human rights are respected and upheld; the rights of the individual and of businesses thrive; and the rule of law is maintained.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">But these conditions are only maintainable in conditions of sustained development.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Democracy, freedom and the rule of law are fragile plants whose growth and strength must be watered and fed by the nutrients of economic development.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">The United States of America cannot choose to move out of the neighbourhood any more than can Caribbean countries opt to relocate elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">They each, therefore, have an obligation to recognize their mutuality of interests and to act on it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">Responses and previous commentaries:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sirronaldsanders.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.sirronaldsanders.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1559928983189000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHxevT6Ay4H7swyz1OYtMOBFPLEfg\">www.sirronaldsanders.com<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<div id=\"antig-2063664668\" 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 (The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States.\u00a0\u00a0He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto.\u00a0\u00a0The views expressed are entirely his own) Once again, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37038","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) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>COMMENTARY: The US and the Caribbean: a mutuality of interests - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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