There is something deeply offensive about the United Progressive Party’s sudden discovery of “political persecution.” It insults the intelligence of the Antiguan and Barbudan people and tramples on recent history that is neither forgotten nor forgiven. The UPP is not a victim of state power. It is the original abuser of it.
Between 2004 and 2014, the UPP turned governance into a ten-year vendetta against former Antigua Labour Party ministers and supporters. The objective was never justice. It was humiliation, intimidation, and political extermination. State institutions were bent to serve party revenge, and anyone associated with the ALP was treated as a criminal-in-waiting.
The UPP hired a foreign forensic investigator, not because local institutions had failed, but because the optics of foreign “experts” were useful for poisoning public opinion. This was theatre, not law enforcement. It was designed to convince the population that guilt already existed and that convictions were inevitable. None ever came.
Criminal charges were filed against Cutie Benjamin and Tanny Rose, trumpeted loudly in the media, waved like trophies at political rallies, and used to scare voters into submission. Multiple civil lawsuits were launched against former ministers, including Gaston Browne, in an orchestrated legal blitz meant to bankrupt, silence, and politically destroy opponents.
And after years of noise, millions in legal costs, and reputations dragged through the mud, every single case collapsed. Not some. All. Dismissed. Thrown out. Laughed out of court. The UPP could not prove a single allegation. Not one conviction. Not one finding of wrongdoing. Not one shred of credible evidence.
Yet the damage was already done, and that was always the plan.
The most disgraceful chapter came during the 2009 general election, when the then Prime Minister publicly named former ministers and threatened to jail them. This was not dog-whistle politics; it was mob politics. It was a Prime Minister standing on a platform and promising imprisonment without trial. Parliamentary democracy was reduced to a threat letter.
Inside Parliament, UPP members openly threatened to hound former ALP ministers, boasting of endless investigations and permanent harassment. The presumption of innocence was mocked. Due process was treated as an inconvenience. The message was clear: “We will chase you forever, whether you are guilty or not.”
Fast forward to today, and the UPP has learned nothing. It continues its lazy, reckless habit of accusing without proving, flinging constant and wholly unsupported claims of theft and corruption against current ministers. Allegation has become policy. Evidence is optional. Courts are irrelevant—unless, of course, the UPP itself is involved.
Now, faced with police questioning, the same party that spent a decade criminalising its opponents suddenly demands restraint, fairness, and respect for the rule of law. This is not irony; it is audacity of the highest order.
The UPP cannot rewrite history. It cannot pretend to be a defender of civil liberties after spending ten years trampling them. It cannot cry persecution after perfecting the politics of persecution. And it certainly cannot lecture anyone on justice after every single case it brought collapsed under judicial scrutiny.
The country remembers who abused power, who threatened jail without trial, who hounded political opponents, and who left office with nothing to show but dismissed cases and shredded reputations.
The UPP is not being persecuted.
It is being confronted by its own record.
Charkie
While I’m at it, the audacity of any ALP member, sympathizer or operative to mention or imply that someone else should feel some type of shame for something isn’t just laughable but ridiculous.
Where was the shame for gaston and his wife both being completely incompetent as heads of their ministries while tens of millions were spent on vehicles each year since 2017?
Where is the shame for the brightest people in the country being duped by an airline into bringing African refugees into our country
Where is the shame for the fact that an 18 year old man was killed by a police officer and not a single press conference months after?
Where is the shame for All Saints Road still being in its present condition despite the promise and self imposed deadline to begin work in October?
Where is the shame for the young people killed in Clare View Psychiatric Hospital and their families left with so many questions and no closure to their demise?
Where is the shame for gaston saying he didn’t even have to campaign in his constituency but was able to put voters into other constituencies to secure those seats in the last general elections?
Where is the shame for being duped by middle east “investor” for the proposed hotel at Morris Bay who then took our lease and ran with it only for our government having to go search for him and negotiate with a bank to get it back?
Where’s the shame for all the government buildings that people have to be working in despite being infested by deadly mold?
Where’s the shame for when there was ONE SOLITARY fire truck servicing the entire country not long ago?
Where’s the shame for us still not having number portability all these years after it was first promised?
Where’s the shame for the swapping of prime land at Friars Hill for reclaimed land at Dredge Bay thus transferring millions of dollars of public assets into the hands of Gaston’s baby mama?
Where’s the shame for Chet and the others who have to humble themselves after hearing Gaston refer to Maria as the only person in the party who can with the capacity to take over the reins of government after him?
Where’s the shame for the condition of St. Johns city?
Where is the shame for low down, childish, embarrassing behavior of the prime minister as he curses, degrades and threatens members of the public on social media if they commit the sin of disagreeing with him and his policies?
I can go on and on but I know it won’t change anything because you people are incapable of feeling shame.
I agree 100%.
When the shoe was on the other foot, they said nothing. Now suddenly it’s injustice.
I agree 100%.
These people that chating these shit about upp.
They dknt have no dam shame
Look in the mirow
And pick the beannout a Gaston the dog.
And he so callswap wife
Then you all can wash a you dutty mouth.
Shame on all a you.
A you need to go burry under sand and cant come out.
I agree 100%
The archives don’t lie. Court records don’t lie. If the UPP wants to talk about justice, they must first acknowledge the injustices they committed.
Pointing fingers backward won’t fix the corruption we face today. Let’s address what’s happening now too.
Courtroom outcomes matter. If you drag people through the courts for a decade and prove NOTHING you were never seeking justice, only destruction.
If we are going to talk about justice, then no party should be immune past or present. Investigations must continue for everyone.
Election season must be close the selective memory getting stronger every day.
The hypocrisy is unbelievable. They ruined people’s lives for headlines now they’re crying foul because they finally feel the heat?