Saint Kitts And Nevis–United States Relations
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Saint Kitts and Nevis – United States relations are
bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...
between
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.


History

Since St. Kitts and Nevis attained full independence in 1983, relations with the United States have been friendly.
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
, an important leader in the founding of the United States, was born in Charlestown, Nevis. The United States seeks to help St. Kitts and Nevis develop economically and to help strengthen its moderate, democratic,
parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
form of government. St. Kitts and Nevis is a beneficiary of the U.S.
Caribbean Basin Initiative The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), a trade initiative initiated by the 1983 Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), is a United States program. The CBI came into effect on January 1, 1984, and aimed to provide several tariff and trade ben ...
. U.S. assistance is primarily channeled through multilateral agencies such as the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and the
Caribbean Development Bank The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is a financial institution that helps Caribbean nations finance social and economic programs in its member countries. CDB was established by an Agreement signed on October 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica, and ent ...
(CDB), as well as the
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
office in
Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...
. In addition, St. Kitts and Nevis benefits from U.S. military exercises and humanitarian civic action construction projects. St. Kitts and Nevis is strategically placed in the
Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...
, near maritime transport lanes of major importance to the United States. St. Kitts and Nevis' location close to
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and the U.S. Virgin Islands makes the two-island federation attractive to
narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
traffickers. To counter this threat, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis cooperates with the United States in the fight against illegal narcotics. In 1995, the Government signed a maritime law enforcement treaty with the United States, later amended with an overflight/order-to-land amendment in 1996. St. Kitts and Nevis also signed an updated
extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
treaty with the United States in 1996, and a
mutual legal assistance treaty A mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws. A mutual legal assistance request is commonly used to fo ...
in 1997. St. Kitts and Nevis is a popular American tourist destination. In the aftermath of the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, tourism declined, but the islands have seen growing numbers of visitors in recent years. Fewer than 1,000 U.S. citizens reside on the island, although students and staff of
Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM), founded in 1982, is a university offering the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. As of 2014, RUSVM began offering Master of Science and PhD degrees in public health, global animal health, ...
and the Medical University of the Americas - Nevis constitute a significant population of U.S. citizens.


Embassies

The United States maintains no official presence in St. Kitts and Nevis. The ambassador and embassy officers are resident in
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
and frequently travel to St. Kitts and Nevis. A U.S.
consular agent A consul is an official representative of the government of one Sovereign state, state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship be ...
residing in nearby
Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...
, however, assists U.S. citizens in St. Kitts and Nevis.


See also

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North American Union The North American Union (NAU) is a theoretical economic and political continental union of Canada, Mexico and the United States, the three largest and most populous countries in North America. The concept is loosely based on the European Union, o ...
*
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
*
Free Trade Area of the Americas The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) was a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce the trade barriers among all countries in the Americas, excluding Cuba. Negotiations to establish the FTAA ended in failure, however, with all parties unab ...
*
Third Border Initiative The Third Border Initiative (TBI) is an area of policy concerning United States and the Caribbean region. The phrase was especially made popular by the administration of US president George W. Bush. The Third Border Initiative was a reference to the ...
*
Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean. They have primary objectives to promote econom ...
*
Caribbean Basin Initiative The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), a trade initiative initiated by the 1983 Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), is a United States program. The CBI came into effect on January 1, 1984, and aimed to provide several tariff and trade ben ...
(CBI) *
Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act The Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) is a United States legislative act signed into law on May 18, 2000 by President Bill Clinton as part of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. This latter act, which also included the Africa Grow ...
*
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is the implementation of the requirement to show a passport or other acceptable document to enter the United States, for nationals of certain North American jurisdictions who were previously exempt ...
*
Foreign relations of the United States The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all UN member and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and the UN observer State of Palestine, the last of which the U.S. does not rec ...
*
Foreign relations of Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis is an island nation in the Caribbean. Its ties with CARICOM and its proximity to South and North America have allowed strong diplomatic ties with several nations. Diplomatic relations List of countries which maintains dip ...


References


External links


History of Saint Kitts and Nevis - U.S. relations
- Saint Kitts and Nevis {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Kitts and Nevis-United States relations Bilateral relations of the United States
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...