A&B’S PERMANENT MISSION TO THE OAS RESPOND TO ALFA NERO ‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’

Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States has written to the Chair of the grouping’s Permanent Council, in response to what it says is a smear campaign launched against the Government of Antigua and Barbuda by Opposition forces and individuals with interest in the Alfa Nero sale.

The Permanent Mission says, “Several delegations have expressed curiosity regarding the appearance of a truck in the vicinity of the OAS headquarters, prominently displaying false and inflammatory statements concerning the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda.”

The letter continues, “Although the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is not the subject of an ongoing civil matter before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, it has been drawn into the case by the applicant, who has filed suit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The applicant, who is a relative of a Russian national currently subject to sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, is seeking to subpoena the Government of Antigua and Barbuda under a statute that permits discovery in aid of foreign legal proceedings.

Rather than focusing their efforts on lawful process, the applicant’s team appears to have launched a public campaign aimed at smearing and pressuring the Government. This has included a series of misleading social media posts, the creation of a false website and, most recently, the appearance of the truck in Washington, D.C. bearing similar disinformation.”

The Permanent Mission also says the fact that “these theatrics coincided with the official visit of the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda – alongside six other Caribbean Heads of Government – for discussions with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio – is unlikely to be mere coincidence. It reflects a calculated attempt to distort public perception and to pressure a sovereign government through spectacle rather than substance.”