{"id":98191,"date":"2020-01-21T18:46:12","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T22:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=98191"},"modified":"2020-01-21T18:46:12","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T22:46:12","slug":"gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/","title":{"rendered":"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

CMC- <\/strong>St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, on Tuesday, praised the position taken by his Barbadian counterpart Mia Mottley as some regional leaders prepare to meet in Jamaica with United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Mottley, speaking at a weekend ceremony to honour the late Barbados prime minister and regionalist, Errol Barrow, said Bridgetown had not agreed to accept the invitation to the talks and warned about efforts to divide the 15-member regional integration movement, CARICOM.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs chairman of CARICOM, it is impossible for me to agree that my Foreign Minister should attend a meeting with anyone to which members of CARICOM are not invited. If some are invited and not all, then it is an attempt to divide this region,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/div>\n

Gonsalves, speaking at a news conference here, said while the United States had every right to invite whoever it wanted to the talks with Pompeo, who arrives later this evening in Kingston, \u201cI have a strong support for Mia Mottley where she said she couldn\u2019t, as chairman of CARICOM accept an invitation to go where some countries are invited and some are not invited.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the correct position because it would appear as though you are dividing CARICOM. Having said that it is the right of every sovereign country to invite who they want to invite and for those sovereign countries to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gonsalves recalled that last year, President Donald Trump had invited some regional government leaders to Miami for talks adding that he had no idea as to why Washington had adopted that position regarding the Caribbean.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cAll I know is this we are functioning in a straightforward manner within the four walls of the United Nations and we are friends of the United States of America. We have friendly relations, but I reiterate this that there is a section of the political leadership in the United States, which seems to think that if you are not \u2018yes\u2019, \u2018yes\u2019, \u2018yes\u2019 all the time with everything they say or do, somehow \u2026you with us or against us,\u201d Gonsalves said, adding, \u201cwell I am not a leader who can accept that\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gonsalves told reporters that while SVG and the United States enjoy good friendly relations, the section in Washington bent on dusting off the Monroe Doctrine of the early 19th century \u201cand given new clothing, which will give a right to interfere and intervene wherever they would like in the hemisphere and to weaponise trade and weaponise the banking system.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cSt. Vincent and the Grenadines says no to those things. Not because I am your friend that I must be subservient to you because I am small. I am your friend it does not mean that I must be slavish to you because you are powerful.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cI and the government, we accept the tenants of the United Nations, equality of states, respect for sovereignty and independence. Non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of a country save and except if there is a right of self-defence \u2026 or any form approved by the Security Council\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pompeo, who is visiting several countries in Latin America, said his two-day visit to Kingston will allow to meet with \u201cmany Caribbean leaders to discuss how we can all work together to promote our common democratic values and prosperity for all of our people,\u201d adding \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to a fantastic set of meetings\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pompeo said he would also participate in a round table with the foreign ministers of Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia.<\/p>\n

Another issue on the table will be the current situation in Venezuela as Washington continues to lead the efforts to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office in the South American country in support of the Opposition Leader Juan Guaido..<\/p>\n

At their summit in St. Lucia last July, CARICOM leaders agreed to maintain their position of non-interference and non-intervention in the internal affairs of Venezuela and agreed also \u201cthat mediation-related activities would be continued to be pursued by the Prime Ministers of St Kitts and Nevis, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n

Gonsalves said while he was unaware of the reasons why the United States government invites some countries and not others, \u201cwhat I do know United States of America has a position in support of Guaido as the president of Venezuela and St. Vincent and the Grenadines says no.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I] don\u2019t see how Guaido can be imposed as president. I don\u2019t see how United States of America can seize US$25 billion of Venezuela\u2019s money and then take three or four billion out of it and say you sending some humanitarian aid, not through the United Nations system but you politicising humanitarian aid,\u201d Gonsalves said.<\/p>\n

He said that the humanitarian aid going to Syria has the backing of the United Nations, adding \u201cwe don\u2019t support unilateralism for any entity that believes it can be a hegemon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in multilateral consensus and we support international law. We are friends of all and we strive for a better world,\u201d Gonsalves said, adding, \u201cI don\u2019t know because of the Venezuela issue we have this difference, I don\u2019t know if it is because Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines presumptuous enough to say we not supporting [Luis] Almargo to be the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS)\u201d.<\/p>\n

The two Caribbean countries have named the Ecuadorian diplomat and former president of the United Nations General Assembly, Mar\u00eda Fernanda Espinosa, as a candidate to oppose Almargo, who is seeking re-election in March.<\/p>\n

Apart from Almagro she will also come up against Hugo de Zela, Peru\u2019s Ambassador to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cCARICOM as a whole has said we are not supporting Almargo,\u201d Gonsalves said, noting that Washington has sent out a document urging support for the incumbent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they supporting Almargo and I ain\u2019t supporting Almargo, we have to have a different candidate,\u201d Gonsalves said, adding that he is very \u201copen and transparent\u201d in my dealing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if by doing that (inviting some countries) they are looking votes for Almargo but that group is divided because a number of them don\u2019t want Almargo, some of them may want the Peruvian ambassador, but I happen to think that most of the CARICOM countries that I know of support the candidacy of Maria Fernanda Espinosa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CMC- St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, on Tuesday, praised the position taken by his Barbadian counterpart Mia Mottley as some regional leaders prepare to meet in Jamaica with United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo. Mottley, speaking at a weekend ceremony to honour the late Barbados prime minister and regionalist, Errol […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":98192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nGonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with - 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\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CMC- St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, on Tuesday, praised the position taken by his Barbadian counterpart Mia Mottley as some regional leaders prepare to meet in Jamaica with United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo. Mottley, speaking at a weekend ceremony to honour the late Barbados prime minister and regionalist, Errol […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/\"},\"wordCount\":1089,\"commentCount\":14,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Regional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/\",\"name\":\"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":380,\"caption\":\"Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves speaking at the press conference on Tuesday. (iWN photo)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with","og_description":"CMC- St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, on Tuesday, praised the position taken by his Barbadian counterpart Mia Mottley as some regional leaders prepare to meet in Jamaica with United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo. Mottley, speaking at a weekend ceremony to honour the late Barbados prime minister and regionalist, Errol […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":380,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with","datePublished":"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/"},"wordCount":1089,"commentCount":14,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg","articleSection":["News","Regional"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/","name":"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg","datePublished":"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-21T22:46:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:700\/h:380\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ralph-Gonsalves-2.jpg","width":700,"height":380,"caption":"Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves speaking at the press conference on Tuesday. (iWN photo)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-backs-mottley-but-says-us-free-to-invite-whoever-it-wants-to-meet-with\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gonsalves backs Mottley, but says US free to invite whoever it wants to meet with"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/98192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}