BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, June 1, 2010 (PAM Public Relations Office Press Release) - Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense recently and openly expressed much concern that the Caribbean will become the new conduit of choice and convenience for the trafficking of drugs into the United States. With specific reference to two countries in particular, Gates suggested that corrupt governments of the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable or soft targets for the drug trade.
In an associated press news report which has been featured on a plethora of international news websites including FOXNews.com , the US Defense Secretary said that he is concerned that drug trafficking routes will migrate to the Caribbean, which could become an easier target than Mexico or Central America and named the governments of Dr. Denzil Douglas in St.Kitts and Ralph Gonsalves in St.Vincent as major concerns and his biggest problems and as the most vulnerable of all the Caribbean islands to the drug trade due in particular to their blatant corruption. This stunning statement speaks volumes of the view of our government hear in St.Kitts by the most senior security official in Barack Obama's administration.
People’s Action Movement Leader Lindsay Grant labelled Defense Secretary Gates’ comments as a confirmation of his and the People’s Action Movement’s continued lamentation of the corruption of the Labour administration.
“Defense Secretary Gates’ statement and concerns are no surprise to me as I, along with the party I am proud to lead, have been lamenting for years the gross corruption of this labour gov’t," said People’s Action Movement Leader Lindsay Grant. The Havard-Trained Lawyer went on to say “The Lavallee Project,the Electricity Generation project and the associated lemon prototype generators and the Prime Minister’s involvement and alledged ownership of Lex Consulting LLC which has seen as much as $76 million passing through it’s acounts are just some of the blatant instances of gross gov’t corruption by the Denzil Douglas led administration that we know of. The fact that Defense Secretary Gates has openly expressed his concerns shows the gravity and weight of the concern to the United States and it also suggests that the US government may know way more than even we do in St.Kitts-Nevis. This situation can potentially worsen not only our crime situation but also our relations with the United States neither of which our country can afford at this time,” Grant Continued.
“Never before in the history of this country has such a high ranking official labelled a St.Kitts-Nevis government as being one of the most corrupt in the Caribbean. This should be of much concern to all citizens of this country and the Prime Minister and the Labour government should at the very least provide the country with some sort of explanation as to this dubious labeling by the highest ranking US security official,” said Grant.
Gates statement was made in the wake of a recent meeting held with Caribbean leaders in a bid to re-energize U.S. partnerships in the region. The U.S. is spending $45 million this year to help Caribbean nations improve security and establish social programs aimed at discouraging the drug trade.
