Statement From The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Commonwealth of The Bahamas On Demonstration By Bahamian Activists In Miami

23 March 2023

The Bahamas Consulate in Miami is open for business, and all staff at the embassy are safe and accounted for.

There are people who claim to be Bahamian activists who are demonstrating in the precincts of The Bahamas Consulate in Miami today. They are protesting against what they say is the denial of their right to demonstrate during the Caricom Heads of Government meeting in The Bahamas in mid-February.

Every Bahamian citizen has the right to demonstrate in The Bahamas. They are, therefore, operating on a false premise if that is their cause. They are misrepresenting Bahamian law.

What we know is that there are several figures who were arrested within the precincts of the conference because they had breached the security cordon of the meeting.

The facts are that under an assumed name an individual connected to the Miami demonstrators, known to the police to be a security threat, checked into the hotel where the conference was about to take place and where several heads of government were staying, including the Haitian Prime Minister. The individual had earlier published a video in which he fired an illegal assault weapon and threatened to kill Haitians.

When these facts were known, the authorities interdicted him and stopped any planned actions on his part.