Prime Minister Gaston Browne has issued a strong rebuke to what he described as “political operatives” spreading misinformation about Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, warning that partisan attacks are putting the country’s economic future at risk.
Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Caribbean Investment Summit, Browne said the continued peddling of falsehoods and speculation about the CBI scheme had created “anxieties” among international partners and subjected the programme to “unjustifiable ridicule.”
“Our sub-regional Citizenship by Investment Programmes are so important to nation building and the advancement of our people, that they should not be the subject of battleground partisan politics,” the Prime Minister said.
He cautioned that the dissemination of disinformation for political gain serves “no useful purpose” and undermines confidence in a programme that plays a vital role in supporting public infrastructure, climate resilience, education, and healthcare across the twin-island nation.
The CBI programme has come under increased scrutiny globally in recent years, with concerns raised by North American and European governments about the potential misuse of such schemes.
Antigua and Barbuda, alongside other Caribbean nations, has undertaken a series of reforms, including enhanced due diligence, sanctions screening, and the introduction of residency requirements.
Browne reiterated his government’s commitment to operating a transparent and secure investment migration programme and called on industry stakeholders and agents to assist with public education efforts to counter misinformation.
“We must reassure our international partners that we remain committed to good governance, accountability, and sustainability,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s remarks come amid growing internal political tensions, with opposition figures reportedly using the CBI programme as a wedge issue.
Browne’s comments reflect mounting concern that domestic political disputes could spill over into international perceptions of the country’s governance and investment climate.
The summit, held under the theme Integrity. Stability.
Sustainability, brings together regional leaders and global stakeholders to discuss the future of investment migration in a changing geopolitical landscape.
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
There is clearly a pattern in this man. Everytime things goes wrong ,it is political operatives or people trying to bring down the country. Who sold the passports to questionable so call economy envoys that were arrested by the US? Do your due diligence so our name will not be out there in a negative way.
Absolutely agree with @straight talk, why is it when things go sour the PM always find a way to blame it on political operatives and can never accept their incompetence, does he really think the people are that stupid, the only possible exception might be Faithful National # 1
The mustache is getting wider. You must have realized that appearing in a US Federal Court looking like a version of Hitler was a strike against you.
What is he doing bawling to the world that he us a victim of his own wrong doings? Play the victim then beg for money which will be used for Election?
He’s always hallucinating and I don’t think that he uses any of the unlawful substances so what is it? The guy is a lunatic.
Dear. Mr. Coon. Please stop with the regurgitation of fixing blame on partisan political operatives, with your mantra of discontent. The conscious masses can see right through your feigning smoke screen. It would be worthy, if you had tried to uplift and, improve the quality of their daily lives, by giving incentives that lend itself to their betterment; instead of selling off their partrimony to the son and daughters of our past enslavement ,
only to give us encroachment of apartheid, and buffer zones; high end wonderment, as a prisms to view our long suffering deprivation. This tribal partisan politics of your annunciation has run its course, exhibiting your prostitution of their patronage; as their stagnation can attest–with your all for self, and none for us. Please visit the enclaves of Villa, Point, Nutgrove, Ottos and the Gray’s-Green communities; and, tell us that you don’t see the petrified neglect of their plight. Where is the seed money to lend itself for their improvement and upwardmobility?. Does rusty galvanized fencing give beauty to your eyes? are there is no crumbs left from your vaunted CBI revenue stream to splurge on their upward mobility plight or, are they the (masses) children of a lesser God undeserving of the frills to ride on a camels 🐫 hump? I posit to you, Sir. That Good governance is fostered by good leadership of compassion, with empathy and consideration for the downtrodden. It is not about cottoning up to the haves, at the expense of the have-nots. Thy mercy on the people: is the cry of the masses mired in abject misery and discontent. Can disinformation fix this too? Or, is it: Your eyes are too blind to see.