分类： politics

Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne is calling on motorists across the twin-island nation to cut back on non-essential fuel use, as skyrocketing international petroleum prices loom to push pump costs even higher for local consumers.

Speaking during the weekly Browne and Browne Show on Saturday, Browne delivered a clear warning: the government has hit the ceiling of what it can do to shield citizens from rising costs, after years of absorbing the gap between global price spikes and local retail rates.

“We are asking our people to be a little more conservative,” Browne stated, urging drivers to use fuel responsibly and cut down on unnecessary trips to reduce demand.

His public appeal comes just after the government implemented a EC$2 per gallon increase on both gasoline and diesel earlier this month. The prime minister explained that the price adjustment was unavoidable: it was needed to cover ballooning import costs and stop the country’s existing fuel subsidy program from growing even more costly for public finances.

Browne traced the root of the current crisis to unfolding global events, noting that international crude prices have surged dramatically in recent months driven by persistent geopolitical instability, most notably ongoing tensions involving Iran. The prime minister shared that he closely tracks daily fluctuations in Brent crude, the global benchmark, and that recent upward trends in the international market left the government with no option but to pre-warn residents of coming local price changes.

“These are not things that we have any control over,” Browne emphasized.

If global prices continue their upward climb, the prime minister confirmed that consumers will almost certainly face additional pump price hikes in the near future. “We have absolutely no choice but to continue to increase the price of petroleum products,” he said.

Even with the recent adjustments, Browne argued that fuel prices in Antigua and Barbuda still rank among the lowest in the entire Caribbean, a notable feat given the country produces no crude oil of its own. He attributed this to intentional, costly government intervention designed to buffer households and local businesses from the full brunt of global price swings.

To keep prices low, the government previously scrapped a 15% fuel consumption tax that typically generated roughly EC$4 million in monthly public revenue. It has also transferred millions of dollars directly to the West Indies Oil Company to keep retail pump prices below their actual market value.

To date, Browne confirmed, these relief measures have cost the national treasury more than EC$40 million, forcing the administration to delay payments on other critical public obligations. Going further, the prime minister disclosed that the government was even forced to take on more than EC$30 million in new borrowing to settle a debt that would have otherwise been paid using regular revenue from the West Indies Oil Company.

Browne stressed that the government did not fund these consumer protections from surplus cash reserves. Instead, it redirected funding earmarked for other government priorities to keep fuel costs down. “What we did, we robbed Peter to pay Paul,” he summarized.

While the administration remains committed to offering as much relief as possible to residents, Browne reiterated that the government’s financial capacity is finite. He urged local motorists to adjust their habits and prepare for the very real possibility of further fuel price increases in the coming months.

Amid a growing wave of armed robberies and escalating gun violence across Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has publicly defended the right of frontline police officers to use lethal force in self-defense when fired upon by armed criminal suspects, pushing back against automatic labeling of such fatal confrontations as extrajudicial killings.

Browne made his position clear during an appearance on the *Browne and Browne Show*, broadcast on local outlet Pointe FM, where he also outlined a sweeping expansion of national security operations to counter the surging violent crime trend. “When they fire shots at the police and the police kill them, I don’t want to hear nothing about extrajudicial killings,” Browne stated during the interview.

Crucially, the prime minister stopped short of issuing a blanket directive for officers to kill any suspect that opens fire on them. Instead, his core argument centered on the necessity of allowing law enforcement personnel to protect their own lives when confronted with a lethal threat from armed suspects. Browne emphasized that criminal groups are increasingly accessing high-powered weaponry, and warned that law enforcement must match that firepower to keep officers safe and maintain public order. “They’re coming out with their big guns; we’re putting our big guns on the road too,” he said.

As part of the ramped up security response, Browne confirmed two key policy changes: first, he is calling for all serving police officers to be routinely armed, a shift from existing protocols that may only arm select units. Second, uniformed personnel from the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force will be deployed alongside police officers to conduct intensified joint patrols across high-risk areas. Browne reiterated his position multiple times during the program, noting that fatal outcomes often occur when suspects initiate gunfire and officers respond only to protect their own lives.

Browne’s comments are expected to reignite ongoing public and policy debate over the rules governing police use of lethal force, and the legal protections afforded to officers involved in fatal on-duty confrontations. By global standard practice, all police shootings are subject to independent investigation to confirm whether the level of force used was lawful and justified by the immediate threat facing officers. Despite this existing framework, Browne stressed that armed officers should not face automatic public or political condemnation for acting to defend their own lives when their safety is put in immediate, lethal danger.

In a recent public address on the locally broadcast *Browne and Browne Show* on Pointe FM, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has ignited widespread debate by defending a controversial policy proposal: the potential deportation of foreign-born judicial officers if verifiable proof confirms their involvement in corrupt practices, including accepting bribes from criminal networks or improperly meddling in active criminal proceedings.

In his remarks, Browne emphasized that any deportation action would only proceed following the presentation of credible, substantiated evidence, rejecting pre-emptive claims that the threat would be deployed in an arbitrary or politically motivated manner. “If we find credible information that they crossed the line and started to take money from crooks … deport him, deport her,” the prime minister stated firmly, adding that his repeated public warnings on the issue were not empty rhetoric.

Browne was careful to draw a line between targeting corrupt judicial conduct and interfering with case outcomes, stressing that he had no intention of dictating sentencing decisions for individual matters. “I’m not going to use it willy-nilly,” he said. “I’m not trying to dictate to anyone what sentences they should give in a particular case.”

The prime minister’s comments came against the backdrop of broader criticism he has leveled at Antigua and Barbuda’s criminal justice system, which he argues has failed to meet public expectations by handing down excessively lenient sentences for firearms violations and sexual offenses. Browne claimed that the current approach allows dangerous, repeat offenders to return to local communities far too quickly, endangering public safety.

Notably, however, Browne stopped short of naming any specific sitting judicial officer suspected of corruption, nor did he present any concrete evidence to back up his claims of bribe-taking or case tampering. He also failed to outline the specific legal framework or procedural steps that would be followed to remove and deport a serving foreign judicial officer from the country.

Under standard judicial norms, judicial officers are guaranteed independence to decide cases without political interference. Any formal allegations of corruption against a sitting judge or magistrate typically require a formal, impartial investigation and follow established disciplinary or legal processes before any action can be taken.

Despite these norms, Browne pushed back against arguments that judicial independence would act as a protective shield for corrupt officials. He maintained that when credible evidence of criminal misconduct emerges, no judicial officer should be exempt from accountability for their actions.

A major public confrontation over criminal justice policy is unfolding in Antigua and Barbuda, as Prime Minister Gaston Browne has issued a stark warning to the nation’s judiciary against obstructing his government’s plan to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for rape and firearms-related offences. Speaking in a recent interview on the popular Browne and Browne Show, broadcast on local station Pointe FM, Browne outlined the government’s clear timeline for advancing the reform: the new sentencing legislation will be tabled for parliamentary debate and vote on September 18, marking a major shift in the country’s approach to combating violent crime.

At the core of Browne’s argument is a sharp rebuke of what he frames as systemic leniency within the judicial system, particularly when it comes to high-stakes offences involving illegal weapons and the sexual exploitation of minors. The prime minister argued that repeated instances of overly lenient sentencing have undermined public safety, allowing convicted violent offenders to return to communities quickly and reoffend at alarming rates.

Browne directly pushed back against the widely anticipated criticism from legal and judicial circles, which argue that mandatory minimum sentences improperly strip judges of the flexibility to tailor penalties to the unique circumstances of each individual case. In uncompromising remarks, he asserted that judicial discretion cannot supersede the government’s core obligation to protect public safety. “When we go to Parliament and we put in the minimum sentencing for rape and for gun crimes, we expect you to cooperate,” Browne stated.

Going further, the prime minister called for an end to the practice of granting substantial sentence reductions for good behaviour to people convicted of serious firearms offences, arguing that these offenders should be required to serve their full prescribed sentences. He also called out recent examples of sexual offence cases where offenders received only two to three year prison terms, noting that existing legislation already grants courts the authority to hand down far longer sentences for these harmful crimes.

Browne’s intervention comes as part of a much larger national conversation about how to strike the right balance between three key priorities: upholding judicial independence, ensuring sentencing remains proportionate to individual crimes, and fulfilling the government’s duty to curb rising violent crime. As of press time, the judiciary has not issued any public response to Browne’s comments. Key details of the proposed legislation, including the exact length of the planned mandatory minimum sentences, also remain under wraps and have not yet been formally shared with parliament.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne has disclosed that the national government is forfeiting roughly EC$4 million in monthly revenue after scrapping the 15% consumption tax on petroleum products, a policy implemented to buffer local consumers from volatile spikes in global oil prices.

Speaking during an appearance Saturday on the popular *Browne and Browne Show* broadcast on Pointe FM, Browne explained that eliminating the consumption tax forms just one component of a wider national fuel subsidy program designed to hold retail gasoline and diesel prices far below their true market cost.

Prior to the EC$2 per gallon price adjustment implemented last week, retail gasoline was capped at EC$14.50 per gallon, while diesel retailed for EC$14.25 per gallon. According to Browne, on top of the forgone monthly tax revenue, the government has also transferred up to EC$15 million to the West Indies Oil Company to keep these artificially low price points stable. He characterized these direct payments as a “negative tax”, noting that the national Treasury is not only losing recurring tax income but also dipping into additional public funds to cover the gap between global and local fuel costs.

The prime minister shared these fiscal details while addressing ongoing calls from local service station operators, who have pushed for an increase in their allowed profit margins. Browne recognized that fuel dealers have been squeezed by rising operational costs, including growing employee wage bills and higher credit card processing fees. However, he stressed that the government cannot continue to absorb the entire cost of the fuel subsidy while also approving an immediate jump in dealer margins. Instead, he argued that any additional costs must be shared across all stakeholders: “It has to be a joint burden,” Browne stated.

He clarified that the recent EC$2 per gallon price increase was not structured to pad government revenue, but rather to slow the growth of the subsidy’s growing fiscal strain on public finances. Looking ahead, Browne issued a clear warning to consumers: if international petroleum prices continue their upward trend, additional local price increases will be unavoidable. The prime minister emphasized that the government has already hit the maximum limit of what it can fiscally absorb to keep consumer prices low.

The top leader of Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne, has publicly raised sharp questions over a controversial administrative decision that permitted a prisoner serving time for firearm and ammunition violations to leave custody temporarily, under police guard, to attend the funeral of a friend.

In pointed criticism directed at the public officials who signed off on the temporary furlough, Browne argued that this special consideration was entirely unjustified given the serious nature of the inmate’s conviction and the loose nature of his connection to the deceased person.

Browne explained that he would not push back against approval for temporary release in the case of an immediate family member’s funeral—cases where the emotional stakes are far higher, such as the passing of a parent, child, or other close blood relative. What confounds him, he said, is the choice to extend that same privilege to a funeral for a casual friend.

In remarks delivered during a public appearance, Browne pressed: “You’re going to let the man go to his friend’s funeral? What kind of common sense are you all using in this country?”

Beyond questioning the specific call, the prime minister warned that these kinds of unguided, permissive decisions risk eroding the core deterrent purpose of incarceration. He added that over time, such moves could even normalize criminal activity by creating space for what he terms the public celebration of people convicted of serious offenses.

The controversy has also sparked a broader push from Browne for systemic change in the country’s correctional system. He called for a renewed focus on meaningful offender rehabilitation, centered on structured work programs and targeted skills training. As potential models, he suggested that inmates learn skilled trades such as landscaping, and take part in supervised community improvement projects that let them give back to the public while building employable skills for their reentry.

Notably, Browne did not release any identifying details about the inmate in question, the individual officials who authorized the temporary release, or the specific funeral that prompted this rebuke. No further information about the specific circumstances of the furlough or the existing institutional rules governing temporary prisoner release was shared during Browne’s public comments, leaving many key details of the incident unconfirmed at this time.