2025 continues the reality of two Saint Lucias as presented in two New Year’s addresses: Hope amidst despair and; A call for unity!
Subsequent to Philippe Martinez extensive podcast on December 12, 2024, and CIP St Lucia response on December 16, Allen Chastanet, leader of the opposition, reiterated:
“We intend to apply for judicial review against the CIP Unit and the minister for their mismanagement and the illegality of their actions. This action is essential to protect our country’s assets, reputation, and, most importantly, our patrimony, which is currently under threat.”
As indicated in Chastanet’s New Year’s address:
“It would appear that despite the indisputable evidence, corruption has now become an accepted norm and, worse yet, is justified by too many of us. Questionable contracts are being issued, and millions of our dollars are handed out freely to friends and comrades. At the same time, ordinary Saint Lucians are left with the crumbs and bear the burden of projects that never materialize. Our CIP, once a beacon of opportunity, has now become Saint Lucia’s largest scandal in our history, thus robbing us all and the country of billions of dollars; funds that could have helped relieve all of us from higher taxes, inhumane health services, poorly equipped schools, insufficient public facilities, and an ineffective police force.”
The explanations continued:
“Instead, shady and questionable practices have raised alarms in the international community, putting our reputation and access to the US, Canada, UK, and Europe at risk. Yet this government offers no answers or explanations to the mounting evidence of unbridled corruption and suspect agreements. Secrecy, lies, and propaganda have replaced transparency and accountability. Future generations of Saint Lucians will have to pay the price for this blatant abuse of our assets long after Philip Pierre and his cabinet of misfits are gone.”
On the other hand, Chastanet did not elaborate on – ‘gone’ – where misfits will be going!
Going public and increasingly driving the alarm on Caribbean CIP’s “ fraud, fraudsters and bad actors,” Martinez, on December 13, 2024, meticulously explained various CIP undertakings and legal actions; submitted matters on the horizon including MSR Media announcement on the dismissal of its civil RICO lawsuit without prejudice, against the backdrop that “a strategic decision influenced by the defendants’ invocation of immunity.”
In response, CIP St Lucia on December 16, assured their sufficiency in a statement saying: “This lawsuit had no merit from the outset. It was a frivolous attempt to undermine the credibility of the Citizenship by Investment Programme and its management.”
Hitherto, the element of surprise expected on CIP Saint Lucia is the wait-and-see attitude to the extent of documents and evidentiary material and US government officials’ actions.
Matters of comprehension
MSR Media’s December 13, statement, said:
“Pursuing a legal challenge to immunity would have been prohibitively costly and time-consuming. Over the past two years, MSR Media has gathered substantial evidence of fraud, money laundering, and corruption. All of this evidence has been submitted to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and FinCEN for their ongoing investigation.”
The interpretation of the above and the possible repercussions could not have been clearer and more precise for the relative authorities to comprehend. But that was not the case!
In the absence of knowledge, aspects of law and national responsibility, creepy individuals and political idiosyncrasies were basking and gloating.
More egregiously, while certain cabinet ministers and political insiders were chit-chatting and calling around –patting backs and butt slapping – notorious and braggadocio cabinet ministers were making inquiries into their status with US authorities – unskillfully.
Beyond that, “ It’s more serious than previous” a noted Washington inside ascribed. “ The emphasis by certain Caribbean leaders, moving forward, should be to take appropriate action and to at least demonstrate a strong stand against corruption,” adding: “The culprits will still have to dance to the DOJ’s music at the appropriate time.”
The fear has not disappeared! Why?
Martinez’s fact-packed podcast explained the shock and awe about 50 individuals presumable tangled in “defrauding the citizens of the Caribbean through the CBI program,” and dived deep into the corruption, and its impact on the US banking system, a la – the 50 CBI fraudsters. It should be noted that most Caribbean politicians have an infinite love for doing business wittingly and/or unwittingly with US associates and comrades.
Thus, in the proficiency of MSR Media, the documentary “50 CBI fraudsters” is nearing completion and distribution to the US Congress, the Senate, the DOJ, and the new Trump administration. This is expected to be accompanied by evidence, recommendations and an in-person presentation. Yes, a new Trump administration is due next week, that could find a powerful and sympathetic audience – the Caribbean region – alongside the New Right with eyes for Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal, among others.
Nonetheless, CIP St Lucia statement is taking their cues from an unfamiliar concept.
The theory argues:
“ The withdrawal of the lawsuit further underscores the lack of credibility surrounding his claims. It should also be noted that last-minute attempts for a financial settlement were also rejected.” The statement emphasised: “The controversy comes as Saint Lucia continues to position its Citizenship by Investment Program as a leader in the global industry, with a reputation for rigorous due diligence processes. The program, bolstered by partnerships with other CIB programs in the OECS and collaboration with international stakeholders such as governments, the European Union, US State Department and other relevant regulatory authorities, has been lauded for its commitment to transparency and good governance.”
The report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council Seventh report under the visa suspension mechanism – Brussels, 6.12.2024 COM (2024) 571 final, says in part:
“As presented in the Sixth Visa suspension mechanism report of October 2023, there are several elements emerging from the Commission’s assessment, suggesting that the five countries’ screening and vetting procedures may not be sufficiently thorough to ensure the rejection of applications from individuals who could be a potential security risk for the EU once acquiring the citizenship of those countries and consequently visa-free access to the EU.
“None of the five countries require residence or even physical presence in the country before citizenship is granted. This implies that the biometrics of successful applicants are not registered. Also, to various extents, all five countries allow successful applicants for the possibility to change their name after having obtained citizenship by investment. In Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, it is allowed as of five years after obtaining citizenship; in Grenada after one year. However, the old name is kept in the passport under the heading ‘observations.”
Diversity and engagement
The CIP St Lucia December 2024 statement, the second of this variety that extricates the appropriateness and respect to the issuance and validation, said:
“The Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Board wishes to reiterate that it takes the business of the state very seriously and ensures the operations of the Unit and by extension the program remains above board and within the regulatory requirements.”
Related: St Kitts – Nevis to allow ‘underpaid CIP citizens’ to make the wrong right – just pay the difference
The key to ensuring an objective “CIP underselling” includes the representation of formal communication and policy into practice. The published article in Caribbean News Global, (CNG) on December 9, 2024, noted:
“Subject to Caribbean CIP/CBI – CARICOM passport holders incapable of complying with MNS, December 30, 2024, legal notice, immigration officers may have a field day scrutinizing CARICOM passports. Likewise, as already, the continued attrition and willful desertion of agents, consultants and bad actors seem inevitable.
“In the interim, it is said that Caribbean CIP/CBI governments are scrambling to replicate the legal and corrective actions taken by St Kitts and Nevis; or face push-back from external intermediaries to proceed dispatching compliance letters with due swiftness.”
While many await the official government action of St Kitts and Nevis – CIP St Lucia perspective, as delivered in prime minister Pierre’s New Year’s address, “A call for unity” is aggressively battling headwinds:
“ The CIP program continued to do well in 2024, notwithstanding efforts from the opposition in collaboration with hostile and badly motivated foreign sources to destabilize and destroy it, and cause reputational damage to Saint Lucia. We will continue to work closely with the UK, US, and EU authorities and with other OECS countries with similar programs to preserve and protect confidence in the program. An interim regulatory authority has been established to enact the necessary regulation to monitor the activities of CIP programs operating within the Eastern Caribbean Union. The presence of this regulatory authority will enhance transparency and accountability and help protect the integrity of passports from the various territories. Meanwhile, Saint Lucia’s due diligence processes remain one of the most rigid in the world, with our CIP program rated among the top three in the world by recognized international rating agencies.”
St Lucia’s CIP new frontier at ‘gambling the odds’ seems a mindset that is taking on ‘new responsibilities’ while ‘creating new scenarios.’
In the eyes of many, the material and strategic interest is not defined. The emphasis, scope and arguments do not have the premise of the necessary catalyst for transformation.
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