By Johnathan Marks (pen name)
Mark Twain once said that “a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes”. We have just seen a perfect example of that. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves stood before the United Nations and declared that democracy in St. Vincent and the Grenadines was under threat from foreign entities and European interests.
It was not only a gross exaggeration — it was a blatant untruth. A lie he has repeated at home and now carried onto the global stage. And in doing so, he has not only misled the international community but also cheapened one of the most important platforms in the world.
The real tragedy is that the prime minister could have used his address to highlight the genuine challenges facing small island developing states (SIDS). Crime is escalating. Drug trafficking and transhipment routes threaten stability and security. These are the pressing dangers that undermine communities, corrode trust, and jeopardize the future of our young people. Instead, he chose to invent a foreign bogeyman and present it as fact.
That is not statesmanship. That is self-serving propaganda.
A one-party state in the making
The Unity Labour Party (ULP) has been in office for nearly a quarter of a century and is now openly seeking to stretch its hold to 30 years — six consecutive terms under the same leader. If successful, Gonsalves would be 84 years old by the end of that sixth term.
Democracy is not just about holding votes every five years. It is about healthy competition, real alternation of power, and equal opportunity for leadership renewal. When one party governs for so long under one leader, democracy becomes a hollow ritual.
Bribery disguised as ‘Lives to Live’
The so-called “Lives to Live” programme is a case study in how state resources are turned into political leverage. On the eve of elections, thousands line up for galvanise sheets, lumber, cement, and other building materials — millions of dollars in giveaways.
No one denies that people need help. But why does such largesse flow only at election time? This is not empowerment; it is dependency politics. It is not social uplift; it is mass bribery dressed up as welfare.
Threats and conflicts of interest
Even more disturbing are the threats from unelected power brokers. When the prime minister’s son tells Vincentians to “count their days”, that is not democratic debate. It is intimidation.
Add to this the attorney general — the state’s top lawyer — who now doubles as a ULP candidate while still in office. That is a glaring conflict of interest. the attorney general should serve the state, not the ruling party. In any healthy democracy, he would have stepped down the moment he entered partisan politics.
A draconian vaccine mandate
The government’s heavy-handed vaccine mandate led to the dismissal of around 500 teachers, police officers, and civil servants in a country of just over 100,000 people. The human cost has been staggering: families lost homes, parents struggled to feed their children, and professionals were driven into poverty.
For nearly four years, they have suffered, and instead of compassion, the government dragged them through the courts. Even the law was turned into a weapon against the people.
Record crime, failed security
Here is the crux of the matter. Under Ralph Gonsalves — who also serves as minister of national security — St. Vincent and the Grenadines has recorded some of the highest crime and murder rates in its history.
The same man who stood thousands of miles from Kingstown at the UN warning of phantom foreign hegemonies is the very man who has failed to keep Vincentians safe in their own homes and communities. And nothing erodes democracy faster than fear, violence, and insecurity.
The real threat lies within
The real threat to democracy in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is not in Washington, Brussels, or London — it is right here in Kingstown. It lies in a government that blurs the line between state and party, that bribes citizens with public resources, that silences dissent through intimidation, that keeps its attorney general on the campaign trail, that fired 500 public servants without remorse, and that presides over record crime while the Prime Minister doubles as a failed Security Minister.
That is not democracy. That is power without accountability. And unless Vincentians put an end to it, the decline will only deepen.
The opinions presented in this content belong to the author and may not necessarily reflect the perspectives or editorial stance of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].
well we know that lying is a hallmark of the ULP unlimited lying party
“”A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes.” Am stuck wid dis one, Lol. Nothing could b further than d truth rite here now.
Thinking Vincentians should applaud and endorse this article. For far too long Gonsalves has gotten away with the dressing up of foolishness in nice sounding words and phrases, “full of sound and fury but signifying nothing”! This last address of his at the UN, and I do mean “last” literally, fits that pattern, especially with regards to what he portends to “threats to our democracy.” One cannot help but struggle not to double over in laughter at this assertion, given the real history of Gonsalves ascent to”POWER”, as he has declaimed. Well!Well!
Very well written.
Could it be said that the Prime Minister’s Big Lie at the United Nations gave cause for the stand off of the US Military off the shores of Venezuela?
Brilliant. This should be in all the newspapers
“This is not empowerment; it is dependency politics. It is not social uplift; it is mass bribery dressed up as welfare.”
Yes, this is the truth.
A load of empty political rhetoric meant to obscure the elementary fact that Dr. Gonsalves has won five elections in a row, fair and square, and is destined to win a sixth term in office mainly because he is facing a lazy, demoralized, and incompetent NDP opposition.
C Ben, strongly agree dat ndp lazy, too lazy to get out ah bed to gave reassurance kiss rrrrraaaaapppp and woman go crazy home,
Extension of white supremacy
C.Ben-David you are living in fool’s paradise if you believe that Gonsalves will rein forever. History has taught us that even Rome has had it’s day. Your home town of Layou has seen better days ,would you agree?