Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne wins landslide victory amid Trump visa restrictions

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald on May 1, 2026

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Caribbean politician Gaston Browne has won a historic fourth term as prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, leading his Labor Party to a historic landslide victory and unprecedented fourth term late Thursday night.

The party won 15 of the parliamentary seats in the eastern Caribbean island-nation in an election dominated by concerns over rising cost of living, and recent U.S. visa restrictions that have limited travel by Antiguans to the United States.

The main opposition United Progressive Party won only one seat, according to preliminary data released Friday. The other seat will be occupied by a returning member of Parliament, Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People’s Movement.

The election was called two years ahead of the constitutional deadline, and the win places Browne on path to become his twin-island nation’s longest-serving prime minister after first winning office in 2014.

In December, President Donald Trump added Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Dominica, to a list of countries subject to visa restrictions, citing their Citizenship By Investment program. The program allows for a relatively easy path to citizenship for foreigners who make sizable investments in the country.

That same month, Browne found himself in a public quarrel with fellow Caribbean leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago. Persad-Bissessar, a Trump supporter, had accused her fellow prime ministers of triggering their nations’ U.S. visa woes due to their criticism of the U.S. boat strikes in the Caribbean.

Browne was expected to be sworn in on Friday morning.

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