Chief of Staff Lionel Max Hurst says Antigua and Barbuda will continue its relations with Venezuela and Cuba despite renewed U.S. sanctions and trade restrictions targeting the region.

“We have told them again and again that the enemies are not our enemies. And we will not follow them on the path of enmity,” Mr Hurst said during Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.

He acknowledged that U.S. trade policies, including a new embargo against Venezuela, threaten several programmes in Antigua and Barbuda that are supported through PetroCaribe credit arrangements.

“Several programmes utilising credit from Venezuela on the purchase of petroleum are likely to be adversely affected by the new U.S. trade embargo against Venezuela,” he said.

Mr Hurst noted that PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, plays an important role in local social welfare initiatives. “PDVSA also provides, or rather is a key agency in providing some assistance to elderly in Antigua and Barbuda by paying up to, I think, $100 or something for the electricity bill,” he said.

He also outlined how oil purchased above a certain price threshold benefits the country. “If we buy petroleum at a price exceeding $100, the amount exceeding $100 will in fact not have to be paid by Antigua and Barbuda, but will act as a kind of a loan… and that money must be spent on things that help to improve the social welfare of the people,” he said.

Mr Hurst made clear that Antigua and Barbuda sees Venezuela and Cuba as regional partners, not adversaries. “Venezuela and Cuba are very much Caribbean countries. And so we have no intentions of severing our relations with those two states,” he said.

He concluded: “We only hope that they’ll get the message loudly and clearly. As small as we are, we know that we are a sovereign country… and no one is going to define for us who our enemies should be.”