Fierce resistance from the indigenous Carib Indians kept British and French colonists away from the island for 50 years. Then, between the signing of a peace treaty with the French in 1660 and the British take over of the island in 1814, ownership changed no less than 14 times. The British maintained control until 1979, when St Lucia was granted independence. Recent politics have been dominated by the three-way struggle between the conservative United Workers’ Party (UWP), the social democratic St Lucia Labor Party (SLP) and the left-leaning Progressive Labor Party (PLP), which split from
the SLP in 1981. St Lucia is a member of the Organization of American States and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
The UWP dominated the island’s politics during the early 1990s, until the SLP was reinvigorated under the leadership of Kenny Anthony, who took over the party in 1996 and led it to electoral victory at the 1997 general election; the SLP also won an overwhelming majority at the most recent poll, held in December 2001. The UWP has just three seats, while the PLP has ceased to exist as an electoral force.
On taking power in 1997, the new SLP Government took a new tack in the country’s foreign policy by establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, which was to provide the finance for educational materials, construction of a national stadium, a cultural center, a new highway and a free-trade zone. Previously, St Lucia had generally followed a uniformly pro-US line (including participation in the 1983 invasion of the fellow Caribbean island of Grenada). Taiwan severed relations with St Lucia in protest. Within the Caribbean, St Lucia leads the lobby for the creation of a unitary Eastern Caribbean state, although progress has been slow, as many of the islands favor a more gradual process of political and economic integration. St Lucia has therefore reached agreement on a more limited union with three other like-minded islands – Dominica, Grenada and St Vincent.
GovernmentUnder the independence constitution, the Head of State is the British Monarch, represented by a Governor-General. Legislation is the responsibility of the 17-member House of Assembly, which is directly elected by universal adult suffrage for a 5-year term, and the 11-member Senate, composed of appointees of the Prime Minister (six nominations), the leader of the main opposition party (three nominations) and the Governor-General (two nominations).
EconomySt Lucia’s economy still relies heavily on agriculture but has broadened during the last 15 years. Light industry has been a key part of this process: the establishment of export processing zones and the successful attraction of foreign investment has created a healthy sector producing plastic, textiles and industrial gases and assembling electronic components. There is also a significant construction industry. The main agricultural exports are bananas, coconuts and cocoa.
The government is focusing its efforts on further diversification, principally directed towards the creation of a service sector based on tourism and financial services. It has also affected various deregulation measures and privatization of a number of major state-owned enterprises.
St Lucia is a member of the regional trading bloc, CARICOM, and the region’s principal political co-operative grouping, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
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