By Yves Ephraim
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA LEADERSHIP MISSING IN ACTION
It is at the worst of times where the character of a leader is made manifest.
Anyone can be a leader in good times but it is at times of grave danger that the true character and conviction of a leader is exposed.
It was during the crisis of the civil rights movement where Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrated his determination to stand for his people and to stand for what was right, at great risk to his own life.
It was Winston Churchill, who despite the ever present prospect of his country’s total annihilation by the German super power, rallied his people which strengthened their resolve to reverse their fortunes.
Both leaders faced circumstances that seemed impossible to overcome. Yet, they did not give up.
I must say that I am very disappointed with the quality of our leadership.
At a time when this country needs its leadership to unite us against a foreign threat, it appears to be business-as-usual.
I do not get a sense that the country is being mobilized to prepare for the worst case as we would facing the threat of an impending serious hurricane.
Antigua and Barbuda, at this time, needs to marshal the talents and resources of all its sons and daughters, regardless of political persuasion to collaborate on the way forward.
There does not seem to be a sense of urgency.
The people are kept totally in the dark.
When our leadership was first warned, we were told to trust our leadership and that we need not worry.
We were assured that the prowess of our ambassadorial team was second to none.
Guess what?
That team failed us miserably and had us all scrambling for an explanation.
We were then lead to believe that our embassy would be working tirelessly these next ninety days to resolve this matter. They were supposed to be working with US officials at the highest level.
Not sure what “at the highest level” meant!
We were lead to believe that the agency of the US government with which we were working was unaware of the dealings of another agency that imposed the sanctions.
Then all of a sudden we receive the bombshell of our country agreeing to receive “refugees”, then slapped with the news of a EC$27,000 to EC$40,500 visa bond requirement.
Again our embassy advised us that they were caught off-guard.
We do not know who or what to believe or trust, now.
Our country was signed away without our consent, to be a human dump. Not even the details we can see in the aftermath.
This matter is personal.
My country and my life have been forever changed!
My only allegiance is to Antigua and Barbuda, I have no green card or second passport. I can run nowhere if all hell breaks loose here. I grew up all my life in a relatively peaceful country. Now all that is about to change.
Now I have to live with the consequences of my leaders’ undignified surrender.
This feels like betrayal. A second betrayal, in my opinion. The Barbudan land sell-off was the first.
I now understand how it must have felt when my ancestors were captured by their own people and sold into slavery.
Without consultation, our leadership raised the white flag of surrender, and threw this nation under the bus.
A truly strong leader would have convened parliament and truly behaved as we were at war against a potential invader.
This certainly would be the time to bring all our people together to fight. That includes political opponents.
This country needs all hands on deck!
We can rally ’round a West Indies cricket team. But Antigua and Barbuda?
If we care for this country, we would recognized that all of us share a common destiny, therefore we must work together for our common survival against this foreign threat.
Like any family, in our everyday dealings we may have our usual squabbles but when the family is threatened we should unite to defend our family honour.
Here we are, all in a state of uncertainty, waiting for another bombshell to fall on us.
Who will be our Martin Luther King Jr. or our Winston Churchill?
Until then, our leaders are missing in action.
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I totally agree with you Yves Ephraim.
Gaston Browne has thrown the country under the bus. He’s no leader. We Antiguans now have to deal with the repercussions of his wrongdoings.
Anyone who has climbed the managerial ladder will know and understand that management isn’t only about having the title and wearing a badge, but making and carrying out the hard decisions for the betterment of wherever you are in charge. Even doing appraisals on staff and ongoing audits would flag up problems.
Gaston Browne doesn’t understand the word “betterment”.
He’s a reactionary to serious issues when being proactive was called for and the necessary actions taken.
Policing crime is a perfect example of this.
All I know is that the country I love is at a crossroads, and we the citizens have to make a decision for change.
The question is can we do it?
@ Yves Ephraim,
You mean well and I wished that others had the balls and fortitude to openly express themselves.
Respectfully if I may offer tge following:
You are suggesting that the political leaders need to step up.
The fact is they are all hustlers. Hustlers lie and blame others. They go into hiding when things get bad until tgry can come up with another excuse.
Soon it may be all the Opposition Party’s fault just like the Alpha Nero.
To evoke MLKjr is to degrade MLKjr.
MLKjr was willing to sacrifice himself for the advancement of humanity and black people. Black people world over continues to benefit from his work and life.
Further, anyone who to trusted the political leadership of Antigua and Barbuda in international matters is naive.
The very individuals who got Antigua and Barbuda into this are not affected. They all have the means to put up the bond.
They may be scheming about how they can get a piece of the bond business. Or somehow broker the bonds
For Antiguan and Barbudans the chicken is coming home to roast.
It was only a matter of time after the US take a swipe at Antigua and Barbuda after it allowed the Free Trade Zone at Yada that was widely covered in Newsweek and the inexplicable mega Chinese embassy in Antigua.
And don’t forget the Ten MOUs with China.
There are no Antiguan Dyaspora community in China sending back remittances and barrels.
What Foriegn threat? What bullies? What are you really thinking?
Ron Saunders admitted in his article that the US is concerned about the medical bills Antiguans and Barbudans left behind unpaid.
Antiguan and Barbudan who have taken advantage of the US Medicaid system leaving Millions and millions of medical bills behind.
Numerous neonatal care bills were over $1.0 million.
The bonds are a small price to pay to curtail such abuse.
That is called medical-care theft in the US when carried out by US Citizens.
Troy Allen not to long ago brought to the the Antiguan public, the horrid conditions at SLBMC emergency services.
Harold Lovell comeback issue, is the lack of clinic services in All Saints.
The threat and bullying is right at home.
Should I openly make a case of lack of a primary care network across the islands. I will be bullied.
Barbudans are at the mercy of Calvin Aires and SVG for medical airlifts.
Neither of these two gentlemen should be the ones bringing the lack of descent medical care to the masses.
The level and extent of medical tourism to the US is among those that are driving the visa bond requirements.
Let me be clear. I have no love or respect for Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters.
The moment Marco Rubio was made Secretary of State any competent diplomat would know what comes next.
Once Gaston is the PM there will never be a coming together. This fellow is the DIVIDER-IN-CHIEF. You cannot denigrate your opponents daily in the worst way and when it suits you you ask them to unite with you. It just no work so
@Don’t shoot the messenger, I enjoy reading the deep responses in your comment like your statement about finding leaders who are willing to sacrifice themself for the betterment of all. Who is not focused on money, materials and opportunity but who truly want to see everyone doing substantially better.
Why can’t people see who genuinely love, care and will always do the moral and legal thing even if it results in them being hated or losing personal opportunities and titles/position.
Who will follow my God and lead people in the manner in which he wants leaders, to do the right thing even if you will lose your title/position.
Yes, the government has been missing in action.
In a criminal climate as we are in today, going back to the last 20 years or so, this Administration should have tightened its immigration system exponentially. I’m not against any other island/nation in the Caribbean, believe me when I say that, but as a sovereign nation as Antiguan’s claim we are, thats the first place GB and his administration should have started.
He dropped the ball big time on that, and for that reason the crime rate skyrocketed over the past 10 years.
And don’t get me started with Caricom.
Caricom and immigration laws are two separate things. Letting in people to work is one thing, but if there is not a strong vetting process for migrants, how are you going to safeguard your country?
This is not hate speach folks, it’s just facts.
Every country has a immigration system that they follow, it’s just part of the governing policies that comes with running a country, but we all know criminals look for the weakest ones to try and breach when escaping from punishment in their own country.
A lacks immigration system is the biggest threat to the security of any country, and a strong immigration system is the “firewall” to stop the breach.
For me, that’s the biggest failure of this administration, biggest. There are others, but this one has cause Antigua major headaches.
I don’t know what reasons these things were just left all willy nilly, some say it’s because of votes, I don’t know, but Antigua immigration system leaves a lot to be desired, from the days of Allen Sanford (where he was chased out of Montserrat) until now.
And on that note.. I wasn’t just talking about carribean islands getting through our immigration system easily, I was also talking about everyone else.
Tell me if a plane of Antiguan’s right now were on a plane that accidentally landed in China or Russia, tell me if the will be let in?
I’ll wait.
This is not discrimination, this is just a reference to the polo opposite of smart countries immigration policies from the ones who have made grave mistakes like have.