Antiqua & Barbuda - History

Antigua was explored by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and named for the Church of Santa Maria de la Antigua in Seville. Antigua was colonized by Britain in 1632; European settlement, however, did not occur for over a century, largely because of Antigua's dearth of fresh water and abundance of determined Carib resistance. Finally, in 1632, a group of Englishmen from St. Kitts established a successful settlement, and in 1684, with Codrington's arrival, the island entered the sugar era.

By the end of the eighteenth century, Antigua had become an important strategic port as well as a valuable commercial colony. Known as the "gateway to the Caribbean," it was situated in a position that offered control over the major sailing routes to and from the region's rich island colonies. Most of the island's historical sites, from its many ruined fortifications to the impeccably-restored architecture of English Harbour town, are reminders of colonial efforts to ensure its safety from invasion.

It was during William's reign, in 1834, that Britain abolished slavery in the empire. Alone among the British Caribbean colonies, Antigua instituted immediate full emancipation rather than a four-year 'apprenticeship,' or waiting period; today, Antigua's Carnival festivities commemorate the earliest abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean.

Emancipation actually improved the island's economy, but the sugar industry of the British islands was already beginning to wane. Until the development of tourism in the past few decades, Antiguans struggled for prosperity. The rise of a strong labour movement in the 1940s, under the leadership of V.C. Bird, provided the impetus for independence. In 1967, with Barbuda and the tiny island of Redonda as dependencies, Antigua became an associated state of the Commonwealth, and in 1981 it achieved full independent status. V.C. Bird is now retired, his son, Lester B. Bird, was elected to succeed him as prime minister.

The Bird family has controlled the islands since Vere C. Bird founded the Antigua Labour Party in the mid-1940s. Bird, the former prime minister, and his sons, one of whom is the current prime minister, have a history of corruption that includes money laundering, arms sales, drug trafficking, and extortion. In recent years the Russian Mafia has gained a foothold on the island. The U.K. and the U.S. have increased their pressure on Antigua to halt its illegal activities—the U.S. State Department bluntly called the island “one of the most attractive centers in the Caribbean for money launderers.”

In June 2000, the Financial Action Task Force created by the seven leading industrialized nations, known as the Group of 7, warned Antigua and Barbuda that it could be blacklisted if it failed to tighten its banking laws. The task force charged that Antigua and Barbuda allows international criminals to use its banking system to recycle money made by criminal activity.