Hurricanes Exacerbate Antigua Need for Online Casino Damages

Internet casinos had found a comfortable home in Antigua, and were generating major revenue for the local economy.

The tiny nation of Antigua and Barbuda sits like pearls in the Caribbean Sea, home to beautiful beaches and startling vistas. Some of the world's wealthiest people keep a home there, including Eric Clapton, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Flynt, and Richard Branson. Fittingly enough, Robin Leach, the host of the old television show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", also lives there.

But in order to help the local residents achieve a lifestyle approaching one percent that of the famous visitors, Antigua needs its economy to grow stronger. Yet the economy is currently based largely on tourism, and hurricane activity as recently seen in the surrounding area looms as a tremendous setback to the country.

Hurricanes that project near the islands cause tourists to flee, cancel reservations, and ride cruise ships to more peaceful waters. Hurricanes that actually hit destroy homes, and infrastructure, leaving the limited agricultural and manufacturing bases crippled.

One facet of the economy that might have helped the nation grow its economy while bringing revenues to put against a rainy (and windy) day was the online gaming industry. Internet casinos had found a comfortable home in Antigua, and were generating major revenue for the local economy.

But the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by the United States in 2006 changed everything. Without the massive numbers of ardent U.S. gamblers to play at the Internet casinos, the Antiguan economy found itself hamstrung again.

The Antiguans pled their case to the World Trade Organization, asking to recover the $3.4 billion lost due to the U.S. trade protectionism. The WTO found in behalf of Antigua, but awarded a relatively measly $21 million annually. Yet still the U.S. has refused to settle, arranging constant negotiations and then extending deadlines repeatedly, virtually ignoring the WTO order.

Now, with the storm season wreaking havoc throughout the tropics, Antigua desperately needs either the damages due them, paid promptly, or the lifting of the UIGEA and a return to free trade. To send our wealthy to luxuriate in this tropical paradise while denying the citizens of the country a chance to improve their economy and raise their standard of living is just wrong.