On Friday, Sir Ronald Sanders, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and the Organization of American States for Antigua and Barbuda, appeared before the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body, to update his government’s position on its 14-year online gambling trade fight with the United States.

The dispute, which has been covered at length on this site, involved US efforts to block Antigua-licensed gambling sites from doing business with US customers. The WTO found the US to be in violation of its international trade obligations, and dismissed US efforts to overturn this ruling.

To pressure the US into abiding by its obligations, the WTO authorized Antigua to collect $21m in annual penalties from the US. To date, the US has neither altered its protectionist stance on the online gambling issue, nor has it paid Antigua a single penny of the $270m in outstanding penalties that have piled up since the WTO first ruled in Antigua’s favor.

Earlier this month, Sanders (pictured) urged the US to honor its debt to Antigua to help fund the rebuilding efforts in Barbuda, which was devastated by Hurricane Irma’s Category 5 fury.