Saint Lucia\u2019s Prime Minister, Allen Castanet, has defended his decision to meet with United States President, Donald Trump, on Friday in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump met with leaders from The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Lucia at his private residence in Palm Beach, Florida, drawing criticism from, among others, Antigua & Barbuda\u2019s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Doctor Ralph Gonsalves said the meeting was \u2018troubling.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked how he would respond, Chastanet told reporters Tuesday: \u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the end of the day I was elected by Saint Lucians to represent Saint Lucia,\u201d the Saint Lucia PM explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the topics that were discussed were of national and regional importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chastanet said the meeting with the US President was not a gathering for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis was a meeting by invitation by the President of the United States of America,\u201d the Saint Lucia PM asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stated that the US is this country\u2019s largest trading partner, Saint Lucia\u2019s largest diaspora and the country that offers Saint Lucia the greatest opportunity for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo if I am invited to put forward Saint Lucia\u2019s agenda, I will do so,\u201d Chastanet told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He pointed out that he has always been \u2018extremely respectful\u2019 and will continue to be respectful on CARICOM\u2019s positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Chastanet asserted that CARICOM is \u2018very divided\u2019 on the Venezuela issue as evident in the way members of the organization voted at the Organisation of American States (OAS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said it was not the first time that CARICOM leaders and CARICOM countries have held different positions on issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are those who support China; there are those who support Taiwan; there are those who support the CIP programmes; there are those who don\u2019t. Unanimity at CARICOM has never been a problem in terms of us working together,\u201d Chastanet explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He reiterated that Saint Lucia believes for Venezuela to be able to \u2018get on with its life\u2019, there must be fresh elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saint Lucia\u2019s Prime Minister, Allen Castanet, has defended his decision to meet with United States President, Donald Trump, on Friday in Florida. Trump met with leaders from The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Lucia at his private residence in Palm Beach, Florida, drawing criticism from, among others, Antigua & Barbuda\u2019s Prime Minister, Gaston<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-regional-and-international-news"],"yoast_head":"\n