So, the Government of Antigua & Barbuda is sending a high level mission to the United States to plead, in the face of sanctions proposed by both the House and the Senate of the US Congress, that the expropriation of private property once belonging to R. Allen Stanford and to the long-time American owners of the Half Moon Bay Resort is "factually inaccurate".
It is unclear how Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, Finance Minister Harold Lovell, and Attorney General Justin Simon, Q.C. intend to achieve this goal.
In his New Year's Address to the Nation, the Prime Minister has complained that the Decision by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal to increase the valuation of the Half Moon Bay property from US$ 23.8 million to US$ 49.5 million [sic] is flawed and will be appealed by the Government to the Privy Council in London.
Minister Lovell is on record saying "not one cent will be paid to the investors" referring to the owners of the seized property.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General, whose dealings with Half Moon Bay have earned him a local nickname of "Not Ready Simon", has personally used the full extent of the legal system to avoid Antigua meeting its constitutional and international obligations.
No doubt, whilst flying first class and staying at the best hotels, the delegates will trot out the well-rehearsed and well-worn, tired mantra of being a poor, small country, unable to afford the cost of its plunder.
No mention will be made of Antigua's well-established history of mal-governance and corruption, of its courtship of and cooperation with international pariahs who find not only refuge but profit among their new colleagues. Of course, the argument has been offered that whatever these individuals have done to cause them to flee the law in their country is not a crime on Antigua & Barbuda, which makes it all perfectly legal and proper!
This history of Antigua's shocking links to international fraud, deceit and corruption has been chronicled by successive documented accounts, from David Payne's reports for the CSIS Americas Program, through Sir Louis Blom-Coopers' "Guns for Antigua", and Robert Coram's "The Caribbean Time Bomb", with numerous articles published on the subject in the international press.
To-date, although there has been a noticeable reduction in Foreign Direct Investment on Antigua, there has been no public outcry or visible change of international response to its Government's behaviour.
The US Congress Resolutions and the latest (Ninth) Report to Congress on the Operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) may change all that.
The veil has been lifted. This time, the game is up.
The complete Report to Congress is available to the public on http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/blog/2011/december/ustr-release-ninth-report-congress-operation-caribbean-basi
Of special interest to the current debate raging in Antigua over the twin Resolutions proposed by the US Senate (#346) and the House (#507), to curtail aid to Antigua & Barbuda unless and until certain changes take place, this Report includes the "Mandatory" Criteria which makes a signatory nation eligible for such aid. (Chapter 3)
Two out of the three "Mandatory" conditions apply directly to the Government of Antigua's treatment of Half Moon Bay. They are:
"Nationalization/Expropriation: The CB ERA stipulates that countries that have expropriated or nationalized property of US citizens are ineligible for CB I benefits, unless the President determines that the country is taking steps to resolve the citizen's claim. Questions about expropriation have arisen in this context, and the United States is currently exploring this issue, as reflected in the country reports that follows.
Arbitral Awards: If a country or dependent territory fails to act in good faith in recognizing as binding or enforcing arbitral awards in favor of US citizens or corporations owned by US citizens, such country or dependent territory cannot be designated as a CBERA beneficiary. Questions about recognizing and enforcing arbitral awards have arisen in this context and the United States is currently exploring this issue, as reflected in the country reports that follow."
In its individual segment on Antigua & Barbuda, the Report recognises that the Half Moon Bay property has been expropriated by that Government. It further notes that "H.M.B. Holdings Limited has initiated legal action against the Government of Antigua to obtain compensation."
After numerous adjournments, the hearing of that legal action, which claims a breach of the Plaintiffs' rights under the Laws and Constitution of Antigua & Barbuda, is scheduled for late January 2012.
A growing segment of the international business and legal audience is watching to see the Attorney General's next manoeuvre to delay and postpone this hearing, whose outcome can only tighten the financial noose around the Government's loud protestations of acting within its own laws and place Antigua & Barbuda in breach of a second "mandatory" condition of the CBERA treaty with the United States of America.
While AG Simon has recently argued in the press that Treaties have no standing in Antiguan law, (see http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=68991 ), this upcoming hearing is likely to put the lid down on that curious argument as well.
This time, the game is up and the only coin remaining in the Pirates of the Caribbean's Chest is a UN vote. Too bad, the chest is now "Made in China."
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