KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC- Opposition Leader Godwin Friday continues to clamor for the country to engage in Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programs saying that the program’s integrity depends on how it is managed.
He maintains that should his New Democratic Party (NDP) get into government. It will institute a CBI program, even as the United States and the United Kingdom have recently brought pressure to bear on Caribbean nations that operate CBI programs.
“The program’s integrity depends on how it is run and managed. And we have lots of other countries in the region who are running programs — St. Kitts since back in the 1980s and so forth, and they continue to do so in a way that meets with the approval of international agencies, governments, and so forth,” the opposition leader said.
He said that an NDP administration would implement a model that is “open and transparent and subject because we understand that if you have a program of that nature and you don’t manage it properly, you’re just ensuring that it is short term.
“It doesn’t make sense not to manage it openly and transparently. And that is the approach that we will adopt. We look for the best examples in the region and learn from them because we’re coming late to the game,” Friday said.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who has recently returned from a meeting of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States (CELAC) summit in Brussels, said the EU told regional leaders that it would revoke Schengen visa waivers for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) countries with CBI programs.
CBI was a central plank of the NDP’s 2020 election campaign even as Gonsalves’ Unity Labour Party (ULP) administration says it remains opposed to such a program, likening them to selling passports.
This month the United Kingdom imposed visa requirements for Dominican passport holders.
Visas were also imposed for Honduras, Namibia, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu.
Nationals of these countries will also be required to obtain a Direct Airside Transit Visa if they intend to transit via the UK having booked travel to another country, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman said.
“Careful consideration of Dominica’s and Vanuatu’s operation of a citizenship by investment scheme has shown clear and evident abuse of the scheme, including the granting of citizenship to individuals known to pose a risk to the UK,” Braverman said in a statement to the UK Parliament.
Passport holders in the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica also need a visa to enter or transit the UK.
Following the visa imposition on Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis rolled back a “limited time offer” investment option of US$150,000 announced a month ago.
Basseterre has raised the investment price for a single applicant to its CBI program to US$250,000.
However, in Castries, Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire dismissed opposition concerns that the UK government would impose visa restrictions on St. Lucian passport holders.
He said that London had clearly stated that its actions were against Dominica.
“They never mentioned St Lucia, never mentioned St Kitts, never mentioned Antigua, never mentioned Grenada.”
Hilaire pointed out that a story from unknown sources has been making the rounds that the UK would impose visa restrictions on St. Lucia in August and the other OECS countries in September and October.
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