Antigua and Brazil Pledge to Strengthen Bilateral Ties
Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Foreign Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene met with Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Mauro Vieira, on Wednesday, reaffirming their commitment to deepen cooperation between Antigua and Barbuda and Brazil.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Browne highlighted the longstanding diplomatic ties between the two nations, which date back to 1982. “Minister, a pleasure receiving you and your delegation, and I hope this signals the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between both our countries,” Browne said. He underscored Brazil’s significance as a key partner, referencing its status as the largest economy in South America and a prominent member of the BRICS group of emerging economies.
Browne expressed hope that the visit by Minister Vieira and his high-level delegation would lead to enhanced collaboration in areas such as trade, agriculture, education, and climate change. “We recognize that Brazil has the potential to grow further and become a major global power. We are very happy to be fully aligned with you, especially as we share principles of democracy and equity,” he added.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira reciprocated the sentiments, emphasizing Brazil’s commitment to strengthening ties with Antigua and the wider Caribbean region. “It’s a great pleasure to be here. I remember your meeting with President Lula on the margins of the CELAC meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Strengthening relations with Caribbean nations is a priority for us,” Vieira said.
He also reflected on the 43 years of bilateral relations between the two nations, set to mark another anniversary in February, and discussed Brazil’s commitment to global initiatives like the fight against hunger and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Vieira noted Brazil’s expertise in manufacturing and agriculture and pledged to explore opportunities to support Caribbean nations, particularly in addressing challenges related to the cost of living.
Both sides expressed optimism about the future of their partnership and agreed to pursue mutual goals through enhanced cooperation and political dialogue.
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The problem I have with when we are involve in internation trade, is that it always comes back to using the USD. Our Foreign exchange reserve is mainly US$ than CAN# then the Euro and the Pound GBP. We don’t even have the Chinese Renminbi (RMB). Therefore it is about time we start with officially introducing the Digital Curry such as BitCoin as form of payment. We owe Venezuela so much money and cannot pay them, because of the sanction imposed on them by the USA. And whenever you use the USD to make payments to a country that has been sanctioned by the USA you are in violation of their laws. One time we had restriction on who we pay with our foreign exchange. Our ECCU companies use to invoice us in USD. Can you believe it. Flour bought from St. Vincent who is part of the ECCU is quoted in USD. And then Trinidad whom we purchase many consumer goods from and Farmers imput is also invoicing us in USD. This is depleting our USD foreign exchange reserve.
If we are going to have trade with Brazil we first need to establish what currency apart from the USD would be acceptable to them. I would suggest we negotiate the use of the digital currency. In doing so we are also protecting ourself from any future American sanctions against Brazil. Or we could setup a Trade Balance account that should be settled every six months. Unless we go back to the old way of trading and settling account with GOLD. Chavez had the vision and wanted the Latin Americas, ALBA countries to have their own currency. But America saw the threat and ensured it failed. BRICS is trying to do something about this as well. But will they succeed. I doubt it.
While I agree with your statement, Bitcoin wouldn’t work because people don’t want to trade it for depreciating assets since it’s volatile. However, a digital currency of some form would be very beneficial.