Antigua PM says he has no quarrel with T&T Foreign Affairs Minister

SOURCE: TRINIDAD GUARDIAN BY Andrea Perez-Sobers and Carisa Lee

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne says he has no issue with the new Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Sean Sobers.

However, he says he has an issue with what was said about his country during the ongoing search for missing T&T national Thomas Vasquez.

Sobers also says everything is good between the two countries.

Things got heated over the weekend, after Browne took aim at Sobers on Facebook, believing it was he (Sobers) who said that dozens of tourists had disappeared in Antigua and Barbuda.

“You have no moral authority to condemn our beautiful country. Instead, you should focus on the exponential increase in crime in your home country,” Browne wrote.

“Whereas we hope that the missing Trinidadian young man is safe, there is no evidence that he went missing in Antigua.”

According to reports, Vasquez, 21, has been working in a marijuana field in Antigua and Barbuda for the last eight months. He returned home on April 6, left T&T on the 14, and was last seen in Antigua on the 15. Those previously seen with him have already been questioned as investigations continue.

However, a Newsday editorial on the issue claimed dozens of tourists had disappeared on the islands. The editorial mentioned that Sobers had instructed civil servants to seek vital updates from their counterparts in Antigua and Barbuda on the matter.

When contacted by Guardian Media yesterday, Prime Minister Browne highlighted that the initial tiff may have occurred because mischief was being peddled by Antigua’s opposition.

“The way the minister (Sobers) was being featured, not only by Newsday, but even by those who oppose us here. There’s one person here who claimed that they recruited him, or they sought his intervention. So, they pulled him into the political fray. He has since clarified it. And I have nothing further to say on the matter.

“But all I’m saying here is that, you know, what they’re saying about our country is grossly exaggerated. All countries have missing persons. I have an uncle, for example, who lived in the Virgin Islands. He’s been missing now for several years, presumed dead,” Browne said.

The prime minister added that dragging his country with claims of several missing persons on the island was inaccurate.

In response to the issue, Sobers also took to Facebook yesterday to say everything was going well between the two countries.

“I have not spoken to the Prime Minister, but I had a great conversation with Antigua’s Foreign Affairs minister, and all is well between this country and Antigua and Barbuda, as has always been and we continue to have strong bilateral ties,” Sobers added.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]