St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said he had told his regional counterparts that they cannot rely solely on the Citizenship by Investment Program to sustain their economies.
Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, and Grenada are among the countries within the OECS offering CIP’s.
Dr. Gonsalves said in an interview Monday that his decision not to implement a CBI program in St Vincent and the Grenadines was further justified by the news that the United Kingdom and European Union are cracking down on countries that sell their passports.
“Look, those who didn’t see it, and who wanted to base an economic strategy on that, like the opposition in St Vincent and the Grenadines, they now get their comeuppance. It’s your how mature judgment brought to bear when I say this thing is not sustainable. You can’t base your economic development on this. You can’t finance a budget on these kinds of monies,” he stated.
Last week, Dominica and Vanuatu passport holders were removed from the list of visa-free countries after concerns that their CBI programs were being abused.
There have also been indications that by the end of 2023, St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis passport holders would also need a visa if they don’t end their CBI programs.
He said Caribbean islands do not have the machinery to conduct proper due diligence.
“People are saying you can check to see who these individuals are…This was only a matter of time. You are going to run into trouble…” he said
Gonsalves said The EU Commission plans to follow suit by removing those countries from the Schengen Visa waiver program as well.
He confirmed that representatives from the CBI Caribbean countries recently met with EU officials in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the matter.
He said one of his regional colleagues told him that “it’s the end of the road” as the EU’s impending crackdown is stricter than the UK’s.
“The EU had a meeting with the governments and told them that it is not a matter that it may happen. It’s only a matter of when we will bring down the hammer. It is when the hammer is coming,” he said
Gaston Browne you better get the greatest power house of the Caribbean started on a new lever. Forget about cheap money like selling people’s boat and the county’s passport. Create a better strategy and be more ingenious. Be honest too.
Thank you. That needed to be said.
Truth be told, Prime Minister Gonsalves has always maintained that St. Vincent and the Grenadines would never be involved in any scheme or undertaking to sell their passport and he has maintained that stance even in the face of many OECS countries doing so and making tons of monies in the process. I remember him saying many years ago that citizenship is a privilege and no one should be able to buy it.
Ley Britain and de EU”Fire Dem Ass!” Dey exploit our Caribbean fore-father’s for over 400+ years and now we get smarter Dan Dem and we trying to at least get back some small change for their SWEAT AND TEARS,, they want to say dey bringing down de hammer on us. FIRE! Well since we can’t sell we oun passport den give we DAM Reparation money that has become DUE and PAYABLE from since dey so call Emancipation. All dem wicked Planters who dun enslave our forefathers get paid out Millons of pounds/dollars an dey who were enslaved get Not A Dam Thing! People of the Caribbean, this is the pivitol time to bond together and come off a London Bridge and don’t get caught when it fall…..cause guess what?….it must fall when they still insist in victimizing us. We need to bond and get we Reparation NOW! We have been down-trodden for much too long!
We need to take a stand and the time is now! The thing that bothers me is that they still enslaving us mentally, socially and now economically and wid they bare face a look pan us to go say/sing “God Save de King’…..which God dey talking about?….not de one that I,PJ, knows. My God is not a spiteful, wicked and suppressive God, for sure! It is so ironic that all of this has cone to the fore-front around our upcoming Emancipation celebrations in a week’s time or thereabout. Tell Britain and the EU, dey too dam ungrateful to our forefathers offsprings. We already build up their empires and so now they don’t value our contribution as a matter of fact, they never did! They yystill want to continue de exploitation of taking the little that we trying to muster However, we are known survivers and when the dust is settled, our God has and will continue to see us through. We have always risen and stand tall above ALL odds. Caribbean people: As out beloved Robert Nesta Marley penned and sang: “DONT WORRY, ABOUT A THING, CAUSE EVERY LITTLE THING IS GONNA BE ALRIGHT!” Blessings.
Now is the time for the people of 268 to force the Gaston Brown administration to stop selling and devalue our pastport