Will this affect Antigua that much?

[Aplmac]

Oh dear. More bumps in the road.

 

Can this boycott-Antigua thing work? Let's hope not.

 

http://www.caribbeanthreesixty.com/index.php/news/18028.html?utm_source=Caribbean360+Newsletters&utm_campaign=7f2e3596d1-Vol_5_Issue_26_News3_3_2010&utm_medium=email

 

They have problems enough already..

 

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[houlacruiser]

Corruption and violence? That still happens? :rolleyes: I guess the lobbying comes about when you p*ss people off that have money. I can see both sides of this issue, but just hope that the people of Antigua don't suffer much from this.

[Aplmac]

One motion is still awaiting a vote,

but another resolution has been introduced in the US House of Representatives

to pressure Antigua and Barbuda into cooperating with Allen Stanford’s jilted investors.

 

 

Read it all at URL..

http://www.caribbeanthreesixty.com/index.php/news/18073.html?utm_source=Caribbean360+Newsletters&utm_campaign=7c112b8785-Vol_5_Issue_28_News3_8_2010&utm_medium=email

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[Antiguan]

while i never was a supporter of stanford, i have pondered why it took so long for the SEC to investigate. Stanford's SIB didn't all of a sudden start selling it's CDs with "unreasonable and improbable" returns as the SEC put it when they shut the bank down. That had been going on for years, and despite not having the cash for all the CDs (which bank does?) there is no doubt that many of the "jilted" investors would have had a much better chance at seeing their money or at least some of it had the SEC not just jumped in and shut the bank down months after they were lambasted for letting MAdoff do a much bigger scam. Of course Madoff didn't have any of the money. To many including Stanford, the SEC (and US government) are guilty of letting this mess get out of control. Like the cruise ships we all know and love, Stanford had his office based offshore. In his case, it was officially here in Antigua, but the real biz was done at his main office in Houston, TX. All of this could have been better managed. Now the only people getting rich are the lawyers and the liquidators. You should see how they are laughing all the way to the (next) bank. The jilted investors are now clutching for straws and trying to target the weakest link. Notice, no similar actions were taken against the SEC in the MAdoff scandal.

[woodofpine]

It took the SEC so long for the very reason you point out, Stanford had moved important jurisdictional aspects of his operation to Antigua. Plus Stanford was good at flying low (below radar) during a US administration that typically did nothing as to business regulation until things were out of control.

 

That said, one has to own up to the fact that Stanford landed in Antigua for only one reason... He was assured of no interferance. How did he receive that assurance? We both know. Now receivers are doing what they do - 'claw back'. Claw back has occurred against innocent charities and others that Big Giving fraudsters have benefitted. Is Antigua as innocent as a charity?

 

I had a friend that flew air cargo in the late '70 to early '80's; the cargo was Columbian contraband to the US. Weather was important to that type of flying. VC Bird Airport in those days happily parked a large squadren of various unidentified cargo aircraft (days or weeks at a time) awaiting proper conditions. Flight crews were never subjected to customs; US DEA were denied investigation or arrest powers. Crews were notified of DEA presence and identities while greasing the casino and the necessary officials' pockets. My friend was retired by the Dept. Justice - a decade in the slammer. But despite the departure of the Bird family administratively, many of those functionaries are still in government. Standford was a pro and knew it.

 

I like Antigua very much. But Antiguans need to recognize the need to keep cleaning house. We need to do the same here. It isn't easy.

[MDSue]

I guess tourists should boycott visits to the US as well.:) I think we hold the record for the biggest white-collar crooks ever. Bernie Madoff made off with billions of dollars of his customers money for years and years. Other CEO's have found legal ways to rob investors blind as well. The US government spent billions of dollars bailing us out due to their greed.

 

It would be a real shame for the good, honest and hard working people of Antigua to suffer because of a few lousy crooks. I'm looking forward to my upcoming visit in a few weeks. I can't wait to visit one of the many beautiful beaches.

[Antiguan]

woodofpine, i have heard that story before, but the version i heard was that the planes (mostly US Air Force jets) were running the drugs and CIA crew through Antigua. Of course we had and still have a US Air Force Base here in Antigua and at the time you are speaking of a US Embassy. I thought and still think the story was nuts.

However, the stanford thing is was less "pie in the sky". He spent millions of dollars in the USA lobbying against anything that would hurt his banks. "In 2008 he spent US$2.8 million through the lobbying firm Ben Barnes Group, according to records accessed through the Centre for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign contributions and lobbying." This from http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=30166

Of course bringing down US congressmen and other representatives of the government and putting them up in 5 star hotels, wining and dining them on private yachts may have helped him out as well.

Have a read of this article which details how much info the SEC had on him as far back as 2002. According to the article the SEC needed no more info to shut the bank down. OH yes and any offshore bank in the Caribbean can be shut down by the US very easily. They do it all the time and did with stanford's bank with one message. They are the ones who really should be blamed. I dare you to read this one: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009/05/06/stanford-should-have-been-shut-down-in-2003/

[Antiguan]

oh yes, have a look at the comments at the end of the last article i linked. I got this one from there further resting blame on the US government who knew exactly what "uncle stan" was up to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8042349.stm

[UKBayern]

I guess tourists should boycott visits to the US as well.:)

 

Most of them already do, dear. It is because of the ridiculous measures and being shouted at that non-US citizens have to go through at airports trying to enter the country.

[Aplmac]

Most of them already do, dear.

It is because of the ridiculous measures and being shouted at

that non-US citizens have to go through at airports, trying to enter the country.

For a few decades now, I've done exactly that -avoided any U.S. points of entry!

 

Guilty until proven innocent seems to be how we're perceived on the way in

but given the crapola that happened on 9/11 and since

it also seems best to avoid not only any US point of entry

but also any country "on the other side" of this silly religious war

until the whole messy thing is over and done with. :cool:

Which won't be any time soon!

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[Antiguan]

I for one will not boycott the USA, and was recently there enjoying a big mac!

i think boycotts don't always hurt the people they are meant to.

[woodofpine]

I like your attitude Antiguan... In fact, I've really liked your island and its residents generally.

 

As for the 'old days' (and here's hoping they're old) I think you're partially right. As its reported credibly to me, the planes were not US government. Many of the pilots (including my friend) were ex-military (Vietnam) then ex-agency contract pilots, then corrupted full time dope pilots. What was described to me on the island were private smuggler operations. They hung out having a blast waiting for the weather to break. The DEA would come ashore (get no cooperation locally) but go about planting transponder bugs on the parked planes. The cargo crews could walk $100+K suitcases of de-bugging electonics through customs - no questions asked - and de-bug their planes before take off. Cat and mouse. He paid the price... now an old man pensioner that regrets the amount of his life spent behind bars.

 

You are absolutely right though... If DC had policed Wall Street and the rest of the American corporate crooks operating unempeded under their noses, contributing politically, things would be better everywhere. Put up or shut up!

[IRL_Joanie]

Oh dear. More bumps in the road.

 

Can this boycott-Antigua thing work? Let's hope not.

 

http://www.caribbeanthreesixty.com/index.php/news/18028.html?utm_source=Caribbean360+Newsletters&utm_campaign=7f2e3596d1-Vol_5_Issue_26_News3_3_2010&utm_medium=email

 

They have problems enough already..

 

.

 

This boycott will not stop me. Would you let something like this affect the way you spend your hard earned money on let's say.... charity? If we use the same principles for this boycott, then no one would donate to Haitian relief. Look at their recent history. And if you believe the president of Haiti when he was cornered at the airport just 2 hours AFTER the earthquake, that he was just "Checking up on his people," then I have a Big Bridge for sale... Really cheap:D This is just a way to try and cause more financial strain upon a small island nation, and the hard working honest people of the island who are the ones who will be paying the hard price of any boycott.

 

Joanie