Antigua Waits Too Patiently for U.S. Online Casino Damages
Antigua continues to smile while the bully kicks sand in its face, as Minister of Finance and the Economy Dr. Errol Cort made more excuses for the failure of the United States to negotiate in good faith regarding their online gambling fiasco.
Despite the deadline for amicable resolution being reset twice previously, the United States did not bother to send a diplomatic team until Monday, July 14th, three days after the expiration of the latest line in the sand. Yet Cort announced, after a one-day visit from Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau ended Tuesday, that a new mark of August 1st had been set.
Even more implausibly, Cort said expectation of a settlement should not coincide with that date, as he figures at least two to three months of talks will be needed to work out how the U.S. may pay the $21 million annually the World Trade Organization awarded to Antigua after the U.S. effectively banned foreign online casinos.
Cort explained the deadlines were not meant to be kept, but merely apply pressure for continuous negotiation and meetings; although if this is generally accepted, the usage of the deadline system seems absurd.
Cort also offered the U.S. a chance to excuse its molasses-like approach by noting that many U.S. agencies and departments are involved in the process. The United States did not bother to make comments in its own defense, hardly having seemed to notice Antigua at all.
Perhaps Cort thinks he is getting a better deal for his country by taking an absurdly patient stance, but not all his countrymen agree.
Emo Thomson, an Antiguan in and out of work since the U.S. shutdown of its online gambling market, said, 'What they did was wrong, and it's cost our people plenty. I think we should take whatever the WTO will give us, and now is the time."
