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Antigua
Prime
Minister
Hopes
Talks
Will
Help
November
25,
2007
Prime
Minister
Baldwin
Spencer
of
Antigua
and
Barbuda
is
hoping
that
talks
that
are
set
to
take
place
with
members
of
the
United
States
Congress
this
weekend
will
help
with
the
battle
that
has
been
raging
between
their
two
countries
over
online
gambling.
The
Prime
Minister
is
meeting
with
New
York
Democrat
Rep.
Charles
Rangel,
Chairman
of
the
House
Ways
and
Means
Committee,
as
well
as
three
other
members
of
the
Congressional
Black
Caucus.
Antigua
is
hoping
that
clearer
minds
will
prevail
and
there
can
be
some
end
to
the
online
gambling
trade
battle
that
the
two
countries
are
embroiled
in.
When
the
United
States
passed
the
Unlawful
Internet
Gaming
Enforcement
Act,
or
UIGEA,
they
violated
certain
trade
regulations,
and
Antigua
is
asking
the
World
Trade
Organization
to
assist
them
in
having
the
act
repealed.
As
Antigua
gains
the
majority
of
their
capital
from
the
online
gambling
industry,
the
law
essentially
crippled
them
by
robbing
them
of
billions
of
dollars
in
gambling
funds
that
would
have
been
processed
through
their
country.
The
WTO
has
sided
with
the
small
country,
but
the
US
is
still
holding
their
ground.
Spencer
says
that
he
is
hoping
that
Rangel
and
his
co-horts
will
understand
what
this
law
has
done
to
them.
The
WTO
has
so
far
found
in
favor
of
Antigua
to
the
tune
of
$3.4
billion
in
trade
sanctions.
Rangel
admits
that
he
thinks
that
the
US
may
have
“overstepped
their
authority”
in
this
issue.
He
says
that
the
US
cannot
change
the
rules
of
the
WTO,
they
must
abide
by
them.
The
WTO
told
the
US
that
they
could
keep
online
gambling
illegal,
but
that
it
had
to
remain
illegal
inside
the
US
as
well,
which
it
isn’t.
Once
the
WTO
handed
down
their
ruling
in
favor
of
Antigua,
the
US
simply
said
that
they
were
going
to
remove
and
exempt
online
gambling
from
their
treaty
obligations.
As a
result
of
this
move,
a
slew
of
other
countries
has
now
joined
in
the
fight
against
the
US
and
are
filing
compensation
claims
as
well.
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