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Today January 14th, 2020 marks the 5th Anniversary of the revocation the US Visa of Dr. Denzil Douglas. It was on this day in 2015 US Secretary of State John Kerry sent two US Embassy officials to St.Kitts-Nevis to deliver a document informing then Prime Minister Douglas that he had been stripped of his  US Visa by the US State Department. Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris revealed  in a presentation during the 2016  Budget sitting of the St.Kitts-Nevis National Assembly that upon taking office he met documents which showed  that US Secretary of State John Kerry had sent then PM and now Opposition Leader Douglas a letter warning Douglas to refrain from issuing any passports under the CBI Programme over concerns that the program was not being properly managed by the Dr.Douglas led Labour\NRP Administration.

In reference to the revocation of Dr. Douglas’ US Visa Journalist Ken Richards of WINN FM news,  reported that “the Americans are quoted as saying that the timing of the revoking of the visa was not done to deliberately coincide with the election campaign, but was the result of a gradual process.”

Dr. Douglas has denied that his US Visa was revoked . However since news of the revocation the former Prime Minister has not set foot on US Soil now 5 years later on the 5th Anniversary of the unprecedented action taken by US Authoritities  .

It has been stated but not confirmed that the Ex PM Douglas  has  made attempts to have his US Visa status reinstated and has been denied according to sources.
Current Prime Minister Harris confirmed the revocation and revealed during his wrap up of the budget Debate that US Secretary of State John Kerry had written to Dr Douglas on several occasions expressing concern about how Dr Douglas’ administration was managing the CBI program. The warning went unheeded and resulted in a major fallout of the CBI programme and the relationship between the US and Canadian govts and the government of St.Kitts Nevis . The North American countries both issued scathing advisories regarding the Douglas administrations management of the CBI programme . So serious were the concerns the Canadian govt withdrew totally the visa free waiver that citizens of St.Kitts Nevis enjoyed for decades .

In 2018 St.Kitts-Nevis Observer revealed that  Douglas appeared on a  list of notable people who have been barred or excluded from the United States of America by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which handles deportation in the United States, often in conjunction with advice from the US Department of State.  Dr. Douglas’ name appears on the list among other notable figures including Hamid Aboutalebi, Iranian diplomat and envoy to the United States; Gerry Adams, Irish Republican, later President of Sinn Fein; Lily Allen, British singer; Luke Angel, a British teen who sent a curse-laden e-mail message to the White House directed at President Obama; Kurt Blome, A German microbiologist and Nazi scientist; Boy George, British Singer and fashion designer, whose real name is George O’Dowd; Hortensia Bussi de Allende, Widow of Chilean President Salvador Allende, who was overthrown; Pete Doherty, British singer; Kyle Falconer, Scottish lead singer for The View; William “Leffen” Hjelte, Swedish professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player; Diego Maradona, Former Argentine soccer player and coach; and Nelson Mandela, South African Revolutionary and later president of South Africa—ban was later lifted.

Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris along with Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Mark Brantley has spearheaded the successful revival of the programme through the re-engagement of official talks and diplomatic discussions between SKN and Canadian and US Officials. The program was just relaunched and rebranded as the new Platinum Citizenship Programme in the world . The Team UNITY Government has resuscitated  the programme and has now regained it’s position as the platinum programme Internationally

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