Good morning, St. Kitts and Nevis. The smallest sovereign state in the Americas continues to negotiate larger questions than its size suggests.
Deportee agreement: regional eligibility only
Prime Minister Terrance Drew’s government has been clear that under the deportee agreement signed with Washington earlier this year, only people from the region will qualify to be hosted in the federation. The clause was negotiated specifically. The reasoning was straightforward: a small island state with limited capacity cannot absorb deportees from anywhere on the planet. Civil society response has been mixed; the regional restriction is the design choice that made the agreement possible.
CBI: the federation’s longest-running programme
The Federation’s CBI programme, one of the oldest in the region, continues to fund development projects. Drew’s government has pointed to the programme’s revenue as essential. The US scrutiny of the programme has not produced the visa suspensions imposed on Antigua and Dominica; the difference between scrutiny and suspension is, for now, the line St. Kitts has stayed on the safe side of.
Sugar Mas 55 Festival on the calendar
The Sugar Mas 55 Festival, which runs from December into January, is firmly on the regional calendar. The festival is one of the federation’s biggest tourism draws. Carnival Vibez has the listings.
ECVA volleyball: St. Kitts competed
Senior teams from St. Kitts participated in the ECVA Senior Beach Volleyball Championship in Saint Lucia from May 1 to 3. The regional sports calendar continues to give the smaller federations a stage they would not otherwise have.
Mother’s Day
Sunday is Mother’s Day. In Basseterre, in Charlestown on Nevis, the day is for the women whose work has held the country together. The Sunday lunch is on the table by noon. The flowers are already wilting on the kitchen counter, and that is the point.
— Tradewinds Brief Newsroom