00:00In Antigua and Barbuda, citizens continue to go to the polls in Thursday's general elections.
00:04For more details, let's now go with our special envoy, Belonde Los Santos, who is in the Caribbean island,
00:09for more information regarding this important election.
00:12Welcome, Belen.
00:15Hello, Luis. Once again, we're exactly midway through.
00:20It's midday, and this started 6 a.m.
00:22It's going to end at 6 p.m., so six hours have gone by.
00:27And, you know, we've been talking to people here, both those who have come to vote,
00:32those who are from the Electoral Commission and are just helping with the organization of the entire event.
00:39Everyone has said that everything has been running smoothly.
00:43We are at one of the major centers where we are right now, west side of the city of St.
00:50John's.
00:51And people keep on coming.
00:52You're probably going to see them behind me also in the footage that we've shared.
00:57The people continue to come at different rates.
01:01Let's recall also, to understand the voting in Antigua, that this is Labor Day here.
01:07But the different workspaces do have to free up their employees for at least up to four hours
01:16for them to be able to exercise their vote.
01:18That still needs, and it means that the people choose their best moment of the day to come on board.
01:26Some of them do it very early in the day before going to work.
01:29Some of them do it at midday, and many do them do it after when they finish their work for
01:37the day.
01:38Tomorrow will be a national holiday as it is used here in Antigua after every election day.
01:47And this is what we are seeing right now.
01:50We are very close to the port of the city of St. John, capital of Antigua.
01:55And I'm mentioning this because it is one of the key areas we were talking about the importance of tourism
02:01for the economy of Antigua and, of course, the importance of the economy in every electoral process,
02:08and particularly in that port that receives some of the major cruise ships around the region
02:14that has majorly impacted in a positive way the recovery of tourism after the pandemic.
02:20The port has seen significant structure and infrastructure investment,
02:26and that has been one of the reasons to understand that rebust in tourism.
02:31For example, one of the major topics that is being debated in this election
02:36in which the Antigua and Bermuda Labour Party, led by Gaston Brown, the prime minister,
02:41is seeking a fourth mandate against the opposition of the UPP, the United Progressive Party.
02:48Well, then, in the past month, we have seen several elections in that region of the Caribbean,
02:53like in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia, now in Antigua and Barbuda.
02:56So what will be the impact of these elections taking place right now in the Caribbean nation
03:01in the current context of geopolitics?
03:06Very interesting and important question to look,
03:09not only at the process that is happening today here in Antigua,
03:12but also in the region.
03:14As you were saying, the Caribbean is undergoing an electoral season.
03:19We started with several seasons, several pulls in 2025.
03:24We continue in 2026.
03:26Barbados, for example, some of them also coming up.
03:29And Antigua is in the framework of that process as well.
03:34And that process in the more general global context of not only the uncertainty unleashed
03:40by the war on Iran that was led by the U.S. and Israel and its impact in the global
03:46economy,
03:47for example, but also increased pressure in Latin America and the Caribbean in particular
03:52on behalf of the United States is setting a particular scene for this government.
03:58And one of the most important characteristics of the region has always been cooperation and integration.
04:06And it's important that we see these transitions and these elections also as the possibility
04:13of those efforts of cooperation and integration being either confirmed or changed.
04:20We have seen some major changes.
04:22For example, we've seen it in St. Vincent with the election in which the ULP ended decades
04:31of government and its leadership.
04:34And they have been a major player in this cooperation strategy for the Caribbean.
04:39But we've also seen in St. Lucia, for example, the cooperation strategies being confirmed with
04:45the Prime Minister, Philippe J. Pierre.
04:48And we've also seen Barbados, for example, with Mia Motley confirming its path of cooperation.
04:54Well, that is also happening here in Antigua.
04:59That debate of whether those strategies of internal cooperation and sovereignty within the region
05:05are going to be confirmed when you have, for example, an opposition party like the UPP
05:11that is talking about having direct negotiations with the U.S.
05:15and being able to have broader benefits that allegedly the government was not getting right now.
05:22Well, we know that direct negotiations with the United States as a nation such as this one
05:28also means probably cutting ties, cutting back ties of solidarity with other nations in the region.
05:34So that regional outlook is very important to understand what is happening right now.
05:41And we'll definitely see that in the results tonight.
05:44Thank you very much, Belen, for always having the latest information coming from Antigua and Barbuda.
05:49In this case, we'll stay tuned for more updates with you.
Comments