nov-2017c

12 13 OPENING LINES ANTIGUA-BARBUDAAMBASSADOR SAYS LINKS TOTHE USARE LONGAND STRONG “T he links between the United States andAntigua and Barbuda are long, strong and enduring,”saidAntigua and Barbuda’sAmbassador to the United States,Sir Ronald Sanders,at a church Service inWashington,DC,recently,marking the 36th anniver- saryof Antigua and Barbuda’s independence. Speaking to an audience of theAntigua andBar- budaDiasporaanddiplomaticrepresentativesof other nations,Sandersobservedthat the linksbetweenthe two countries“existedbefore the independenceof theUnited States fromBritain in1776”. “Antiguaalwayswas,andremains today,astrongtrad- ingpartnerwiththeUS.Evidenceof thecommitment to those trade linkswasAntigua’s resistance toBritishNavi- gationActs that sought topunishtheUnitedStatesafter 1776byprohibitingtradewith itscolonies intheCaribbe- an,”theAntiguaandBarbudaAmbassador explained. Hepointedout that“between1784and1787,it took HoratioNelsonanda fleetofBritishmilitaryships toen- forceAntigua’s refusal tocomplywiththe tradeembargo against thenewly-independentUnitedStatesofAmerica”, andhe recalledthat“Nelson is recordedas sayingthat theAntiguancolonistsareasgreat rebelsaseverwere in America,hadtheythepower toshowit.” Sanders saidthat“likemanyothernations intheCarib- bean,Antigua’sdesire for independencewas inspiredby theUnitedAmericanStates.Thenoble ideas,expound- edbyThomas Jeffersonand JohnDickinson in1775, resoundedacross thosemanycenturies”,includingthat Americanswere“resolvedtodie freemenrather thanto liveas slaves”. “It isnopassingcoincidence that,36yearsago,the framersof the independenceconstitutionofAntiguaand BarbudalaiddownsimilarprinciplestothosesetoutintheUS DeclarationofIndependence,especiallythatallmenareenti- tledtolife,liberty,andthepursuitofhappiness,”hesaid. Declaringthat theharmful effectsof climatechange is nowthebiggest threat tothe independenceandexis- tenceofAntiguaandBarbuda,Sanders toldtheaudience, “This iswhyAntiguaandBarbudahas tobe inthe fore- frontof thebattleagainst climatechange.” Remarkingontheharmful effectsofhurricanes,he said,“Wemaybebowed,butwearenotbeaten.Wewere knocked-downmanytimesandstillwestoodupevery time.” Tellingtheaudience that thegovernment andpeople ofAntiguaandBarbuda“intendtocontinue torise”,hesaid that“wewill stretchourhands toour sistersand brothers in this USDiaspora so that wemight lift up ourselves together,because in thewords of the old spiritual,‘We all got a right to the tree of life.’”