PM: There’s a hit out on me

Local drug lords have hired a hit man to kill Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister claims.{{more}}

Speaking in Parliament last Tuesday, April 29th, Dr Gonsalves said that the murder plot is a direct reprisal for the work being done by his government in cracking down on the illegal drug trade and money laundering.

“There is a settled feeling among the big drug traffickers and money launderers; a settled feeling that the current Prime Minister is out to clip their wings,” Dr Gonsalves said.

Dr Gonsalves said in recent times, police intelligence suggests that seven hit-men have come to St Vincent and the Grenadines at one time or the other, and one of these men, he said, came to kill him.

“One was assigned the responsibility to take out the Prime Minister,” Dr Gonsalves said.

“Persons may not take seriously what I have said now, but if you notice the enhanced security around me it is because of the intelligence that is in the possession of the security forces of this country,” he said.

It is not the first time in his seven years in Government that Dr Gonsalves has indicated that death threats have been made against him.

On May 30, 2006, Dr Gonsalves called a press conference to alert the nation about threats that were made on his life. Those threats, he said, were a direct retaliation by persons who felt aggrieved by the passing of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament earlier that week.

Back then, Dr Gonsalves had said that he would not scale back his movements nor would extra security steps be taken, only that he would exercise prudence and sensibility as he carries out his duties.

This time, however, Dr Gonsalves says that the police have stepped up security around him because of this latest threat.

He said the threats against his life and the other threats in society are a sign of the dangers that come with the way drug dealers choose to live.

He again vowed to continue to work assiduously to combat the scourge of the drug trade, and its accompanying evils like money laundering.

Meanwhile Vice President of the New Democratic Party, Senator St Clair Leacock, said that he is taking what the Prime Minister said at face value, and as such, strongly condemns any such threat being made against his life.(KJ)