Online Casinos Hope Antigua's Mount Obama is Good Luck
Antigua officially renamed the highest mountain in the island chain nation Mount Obama yesterday after US President Barack Obama. Online casino operators based in Antigua hope the name is the beginning of a change in US-Antigua relations over free trade and Internet gambling.The mountain rises 1300 feet above the Caribbean Sea, and was previously known as Boggy Peak. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer re-christened the mountain to honor the President on his birthday.
An inscription on the plaque placed at the foot of Mount Obama reads, "Mount Obama, named in honor of the historical election on Nov. 4, 2008, of Barack Hussein Obama, the first black president of the United States of America, as a symbol of excellence, triumph, hope and dignity for all people."
Antigua has been involved for years in a trade dispute with the US over US violations of agreements regarding free trade in services and the block of Antiguan online casinos. The World Trade Organization found found damages due to Antigua in the case, but the negotiations to settle the debt dragged through the lase several years of the Bush administration.
Antigua has a struggling economy, and says vast damage has been done by US bans of online gambling sites registered on the island. Poor people across the tiny country hope that Obama changes US policy concerning online casinos to honor free trade treaties and allow the residents to earn a living.
