By Hon. E.P. Chet Greene
In an era where international relations are often dominated by headlines of discord and unilateral action, the recent and successful engagement between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States over new security proclamations stands as a masterclass in mature, effective diplomacy.
The outcome, which safeguards the interests of our citizens while respecting U.S. security imperatives, is not a matter of luck.
It is the direct result of calm, professional and persistent diplomatic effort, led with distinction by our Ambassador to the United States and the OAS, Sir Ronald Sanders.
Faced with the potential disruption caused by the U.S. proclamation of December 16, 2025, our government moved with swiftness and strategic clarity.
Under the direct guidance of Prime Minister the Honourable Gaston Browne and my ministerial leadership at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador Sanders was instructed to engage immediately with the highest levels of the U.S. State Department.
He did not go to Washington to protest or posture but to negotiate, clarify and secure the interests of every Antiguan and Barbudan citizen.
The results, as detailed in Ambassador Sanders’ statement, are unequivocally positive.
The U.S. has confirmed it will respect all existing visas, providing immediate certainty to our students, business travellers, tourists and families.
It has guaranteed no revocation of pre 2025 visas, protecting the substantial investments and plans of our people.
This immediate clarity alleviated the foremost anxieties of our citizens, a testament to diplomacy that listens to and acts upon the concerns of the people.
For future arrangements, Ambassador Sanders, working in lockstep with the Cabinet, secured a cooperative path forward. The alignment of biometric systems is a practical measure of enhanced security cooperation and must not be seen as a punitive barrier.
As he emphatically stated, the process for our citizens will be no different; only the technology will be harmonized. This was a key concession achieved through negotiation, ensuring our systems are compatible while preserving the dignity and ease of travel for our people.
Throughout this delicate process, Ambassador Sanders exemplified the highest standards of diplomatic service.
He kept Prime Minister Browne, Attorney General Cutie Benjamin and myself continuously abreast of all developments, ensuring our leadership was fully informed and that our national strategy was executed with precision.
His approach, combining unwavering advocacy for Antigua and Barbuda with a deep respect for the U.S’s security prerogatives, created the atmosphere of the mutual trust necessary for a rapid and fair resolution.
This successful outcome also speaks to the receptive and professional conduct of the officials within the United States Department of State. We express sincere appreciation for their expeditious and good-faith response to our request for engagement.
Their willingness to listen and work constructively reflects the enduring strength of the bilateral relationship our nations have nurtured over decades.
This entire episode underscores the outstanding and effective leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
From the strategic direction set at the political level to the expert execution by our ambassador in the field, our diplomatic machinery proved its worth.
We demonstrated that a small state, when guided by principle and professional diplomacy, can engage with the world’s largest power not from a position of weakness but from one of respect and reasoned partnership.
Antigua and Barbuda has reaffirmed our commitment to being a responsible international partner, pledged to security cooperation and steadfast in protecting the rights and interests of our citizens.
This is what effective governance looks like.
We have achieved clarity, preserved vital people-to-people ties while at the same time strengthening the framework of our cooperation with the United States.
For this, the nation owes a debt of gratitude to the diplomatic team, led by Sir Ronald Sanders, whose skill and dedication turned a potential challenge into a demonstration of diplomatic excellence.
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I almost throw up when I read this article, as God is my witness.
This article is filled with so much misdirection and untruths, that an instant headache almost came over me.
How can these people just sit there and spit out this garbage one after the other? Sheesh!
First GB, then Sanders, now Greene. My goodness me. I’m out of words, for real.
The problem here you jokers, is that y’all never see these things coming, that’s the biggest problem here, not this Monday morning quarterbacking trying to back track your woeful track record of getting caught with your pants down.
But you know what..this takes the cake,, I’m done. Just too many lies for me.
Evidence of incompetence of international relationship, can be seen by the ABLP statement that they did not know the executive order/proclamation was going to happen. I knew this for months, even years based on the ignorant and incompetent, bias too, statements the ABLP PM Gaston Browne constantly says about the US and its Presidents.
The fact you guys didn’t know what is to come and it came, shows how incompetent ABLP is especially in international relation and national security.
The master-class from ABLP is how to be sanctioned by the US for being incompetent. ABLP can teach this class well, so others can learn from ABLP’s dunceness.
Today, December 22, 2025 (yesterday now), my aunt who migrated from Antigua to the US about 15 years ago, went back to Antigua for her son’s funeral. Afterwards, she went to get a medical benefits card, they deny her telling her she must be in the country for 3 months.
While for Citizen By Investment for Antigua and Barbuda, there were no residency requirement and recently only about 30 days is required.
Do you see how ignorant ABLP is? If you want to learn to be incompetent, bias, selfish, greedy, unstrategic, wasteful, lying, in love with dictatorship and tyrannical then you can get these lessons at ABLP. If you want support for running drugs can give you that support you need like they do for Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, Hell, etcetera.
Kaiso_Thyme…
…please, full joy your SATURNALIA RITUALS!
====================
…it seems like, everyone is having regrets!
…to include, this one by the name of Chet!
…but, I want you to know; this pepperpot ain’t got hot yet!
…you can, put some sanctions, on the Trinidad Possee!
…yet, no Trini gonna die for hungry!
…not, with plenty sweet, sweet poloree
…and, not to mention; plenty curry & roti!
…I know, Antigua is where Land & Sea, make beauty!
…but, that alone ain’t filling hungry belly
…since, this is a one pony horse Industry
…therefore, remember what we saw;
…when, COVID-19 rolled ashore!
…we acted like, we’d be extinct like the dinosaurs!
…then, Chet tell your nemesis Gaston
…he could try, all kinds of Trumps asinine SANCTIONS
…but he’d better wait, a while!
…’cause, as Chalkdust did say
…at, the end of each and every day!
…Trinidad and Tobago’s got oil
…and, and that kind of oil, it nah spoil
…bring on your Tariffs, say KAMALA.
…I don’t give a damn! Not one DAMN!
…about, your Quasi Grouping CARICOM!
…don’t you see, the whole thing almost bruk-dung
…from Pointe Pierre to Gaza, in Jam Dung!
Jumbee Picknee aka Ras Smood
De’ole Dutty Peg 🦶🏿 Garrat_Bastard
Vere Edwards
Talk about political propaganda and spin-doctoring! This article is utter garbage. This government did absolutely nothing to change the Proclamation travel restriction. It remains the same today as it was when the Proclamation was first issued. Chet Greene is simply trying his best to fool us into thinking that the government actually did something good when all it did was to cause the Proclamation to be issued in the first place by taking Maduro’s side against the US, telling Marco Rubio that the Cuban Medical Brigade is not going anywhere and telling the black US Southern Command General to go jump in a lake with respect to the radar request. The ALP directly caused this Proclamation and is now trying to spin it to avoid liability. Chet, we are not as stupid as you think!
Chet, writing these articles really does not help you or your comrades. It makes you look like you are trying your best to pull the wool over the eyes of every folly Antiguan. It makes us think you take us for fools. Please stop.
@my way of helping…if that is the policy regarding the MBS card you expect for there to be a compromise? Is that what you are trying to insinuate?
@ANR – censorship?
‘Tis ah, #sinking ship!
And like CARICOM!
U can’t, STOP! What’s to come!
Nor, what’s already here!
Is it blasphemy, to be sincere?
So, don’t blame people like me!
We’re simply. exposing #ALL_U
Hypocrisy, of DEMONacracy!
Jumbee_Picknee aka Ras Smood
De’ole Dutty Peg 🦶🏿Garrat_Bastard
Vere Edwards
This article is a masterclass in diplomatic misdirection. It bathes Ron Sanders in praise while deliberately avoiding the central issue: He did not “navigate” a crisis, he created it through negligence, complacency, and diplomatic drift.
The U.S. proclamation SHOULD NEVER have blindsided Antigua and Barbuda. Any competent ambassador with a functioning diplomatic compass would have picked up signals in Washington, read the mood of Congress, followed State Department sentiment and pre-empted the policy shift long before it reached proclamation stage. Instead Sanders was caught flat-footed. This isn’t “diplomatic excellence.” This is diplomatic sleepwalking! This self-written article is pure “damage-control theatre.” You do not applaud a firefighter for “excellent service” when he accidentally set the house on fire and then showed up with a bucket of water.
The article’s tone suggests Antigua “handled” the situation well. In reality, the U.S. revocation/alteration of visa privileges is a severe diplomatic failure, it signals a breakdown in trust or communication with Washington, it exposes Antigua to international scrutiny and domestic anxiety, it damages investor confidence, tourism certainty, and student mobility. A competent ambassador’s job is to stop the bleeding before the wound exists. What happened here is the opposite. Sanders should have been recalled, reprimanded, or required to report in person. In any serious foreign ministry, Canada, Barbados, Singapore or Jamaica, an ambassador who allowed such an unanticipated proclamation would face immediate recall for consultations, a formal review and possibly resignation. Instead, this article reads like a retirement tribute to a man who failed upward.
“Diplomatic excellence” is not measured by how well you write a press release after a disaster. The article praises “swift action, “clarity,” “communication,” and “professionalism. But what it does not address is: Why was Antigua unaware of U.S. intentions? Why was there no early warning mechanism? Why were citizens first notified by Washington and not by our own embassy or foreign ministry? Why did Antigua have to negotiate back rights it already had? And why did the ambassador not anticipate a proclamation that affects thousands of Antiguans?
The truth is, this was a failure dressed up as triumph. The foreign minister, who I highly doubt wrote this, ( I’ll get to this below) is congratulating Ron for “avoiding a national disaster” while ignoring the fact that Ron created the disaster by not paying attention. This is spin over substance. Fluff over fact. Ego-stroking over accountability. this article attempts to rewrite failure as victory. If Antigua and Barbuda wants a serious, credible diplomatic presence in Washington, then leadership must stop treating accountability as optional, stop praising mediocrity, stop hiding behind flowery press releases written by the man who is aged and lost all diplomatic credibility. We should start demanding performance from the people representing the nation abroad. The public needs an ambassador who is awake when the U.S. government acts, not one who only wakes up when the damage is already done.
We Antiguans are suffering now because we’ve had an ABLP government that has long been known for being reactive rather than proactive.
Time and time they’ve been warned to have some sort of a Plan B for any of their undertakings. Oh, but no, they thought they knew better than more experienced experts and highly qualified personnel.
Now ABLP members are running around like a bunch of headless chickens to find solutions to the mess they’ve left the country to clean up.
They were warned on a number of occasions about doing things correctly and the importance of due diligence.
But would they listen or take good advice? No, not a chance in hell!
The current Bird-Browne dynasty must be broken up for good at the next General Election, because it just isn’t fit for purpose today; or Antiguans will witness the demise and destruction of the great legacy that the ‘Father’ of Antigua Vere Bird had left us to prosper. He must be turning in his grave.
My heart bleeds for my country at present…
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