Following the recent Campaign led by the American branch of the Stanford Victims Coalition (SVC) and recently supported by the Latin American Branch of the SVC, the European Branch of the SVC are now adding their support to the campaign and intend to target Travel Agencies, Holiday Forums, Cruise Lines, Travel Shows and Hotels in seeking support for a total boycott on Antigua as a holiday destination.
The campaign will be conducted throughout the whole of Europe and through its members will include The United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and all other European Countries; thus with the support of the American & Latin American SVC making this a global campaign against Antigua and its corrupt government.
This is a sad day for the people of Antigua brought about by the ineptitude and dishonesty of its government. The repercussions of this action will resound throughout the whole of the island and will affect every person living there.
The Government of Antigua have been given every opportunity to deal with this matter and correct their error in judgement when they seized the Stanford lands and property. Property that was bought and paid for by the victims of Stanford International Bank and has to be returned to them, together with repayment of the $230 million dollar loan the government of Antigua owes to SIB.
For over one year the government of Antigua have steadfastly refused to enter into any debate or contact with the SVC, despite repeated letters and requests for them to do so. They have buried their heads in the sand in the hope the victims of SIB would ignore the criminal activities they have perpetrated against them. The Baldwin Spencer government have continuously tried to blame everyone else for the situation that has arisen regarding SIB, including the previous government, the United States and the victims themselves. At no time have they acknowledged the part played by the Antiguan government, the FSRC and Leroy King and the fact that Leroy King was being overseen by a Government Minister Mr Errol Cort. This has resulted in the SVC being forced to bring legal actions and now engage in the Anti-Crime, Anti-Antigua Campaign.
The European Branch of the SVC would like the Prime Minister and his government to invoke Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the treaty that was co-signed by Antigua and the United Kingdom and also Germany “For the Promotion and Protection of Investments”.
Article 4 of the Treaty addresses the Compensation for losses, Article 5 addresses Expropriation of land and assets by governments, and Article 6 addresses the Repatriation of Investment and Returns.
The government has had every opportunity to end this situation but have instead preferred to ignore all attempts to engage in talks about how to resolve the issue. The Prime Minister of Antigua has not made a single statement regarding this matter and what he intends to do about it. The Prime Minister and his elected government are content to sit idly by and watch the lives of the very people it was elected to protect once again reduced to “eating cockles and widdy widdy bush”. Meanwhile they continue to sit in their ivory towers enjoying their luxurious homes, trips abroad and expensive lifestyles oblivious to the suffering of its people caused by their lack of action.
The European Branch of the SVC insists the Prime Minister and his government take this opportunity to turn the situation around and find a resolution to make good the losses SIB victims have suffered. We demand they honour the treaty “For the Promotion and Protection of Investments”, return the lands and assets “expropriated”, make good the loans of around $230 million dollars they acquired from Stanford and begin talks with the government leaders of Great Britain, Germany, France, the United States and all other countries involved.
This will send a clear signal to the rest of the world that Antigua takes its obligations seriously and intends to clean up its international reputation. It will also show their talk about being a government that wishes to change the image of Antigua from a corrupt and dishonest country led by thieves was not just political speak, but a genuine concern that they wish to address and rectify.
Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has two choices here, he will either continue to ignore the situation and watch as the people of Antigua suffer. Or, he will show that he is a man of integrity, a true leader and someone who will help resolve this situation.
The SVC hope that he will avoid any more conflict and do the job he was elected to do.
Signed on behalf of all the European Stanford Victims
No comments:
Post a Comment