Premier gives nod to former Premier Andrew Fahie
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley recently gave a nod to embattled former Premier Andrew Fahie, declaring that he should not be cast aside despite his ongoing legal troubles.
The remarks came during Dr Wheatley’s address at the recent VIP gala, where he reflected on the legacy of the Virgin Islands Party (VIP), which he described as the only political organisation in the territory to have survived beyond its founding leader, H. Lavity Stoutt.
Premier Wheatley also pointed to the party’s history of leadership following Stoutt’s death in 1995, naming former Chief Minister Ralph T. O’Neal and himself among those who have carried the party forward.
But the Premier did not erase former Premier Andrew Fahie from the VIP’s legacy, stating that the VIP doesn’t abandon its members in difficult times.
“I’m gonna say Andrew Fahie’s name, because, of course, when Virgin Islanders fall down, we don’t cast them aside. We pick them up. And, of course, even though our brother Andrew is going through a difficult situation and a difficult time, we will not discard him. We will pick him up,” the Premier said while the audience applauded.
Former Premier Andrew Fahie was arrested in April 2022 in the United States following a DEA sting operation at a Florida airport, where he was accused of agreeing to facilitate cocaine trafficking through the Virgin Islands. He is now serving a lengthy sentence in a U.S. federal prison, bringing an abrupt end to his political career and marking one of the most significant corruption scandals in the territory’s history.
In the same speech, Premier Wheatley recognised Dr. D Orlando Smith as the only non-VIP leader to have been elected Premier at the gala. Smith, who also attended the VIP gala, led the National Democratic Party during his tenure as Premier.
“Dr D Orlando Smith – the husband of a dynamo. She is a minister of government, and she has assisted us in a very profound way in maintaining the status and prominence of the financial services sector. Let’s give Hon. Lorna Smith a round of applause. No one, like Hon. Lorna Smith,” Premier Wheatley added.
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This headline must be a joke. I hate to think our Premier will do such a thing knowing how former leader is such an embarrassment and caused much harm to those Territory. It’s unbelievable.
Fahie needs to be charged and put back in prison once he arrives back in the BVI.
Kind of fascinating, how there has not been one single utterance from anyone in the territorial government about the Head Coach and Team Maynard having violated numerous laws in the BVI.
Nothing – Nada – Nix.
How can Wheatley make it sound so trivial, the man was caught attempting to allow drug smuggling at an unprecedented level and money laundering. He threatened the entire territory with his actions.
That’s not just legal troubles, that’s the sort of action that our premier should be strongly standing against and fahie should be erased from history. He mustn’t be welcomed back when he finally gets released, he should come back quietly ashamed of what he’s done to us and live a quiet life away from public life.
Current Premier Wheatley makes. It known loud and clear his alignment with the Djnhos and the DR. In addition to their illrgaliitues by sea they now have an open corridor by Air..
Of course,no surprise his smoothing and grooving with his praise for the BVI imprisoned Narco pinhead Andrew Fahie.
Don’t forget it was all for his own personal gain. He was willing to sell out this territory for a few million. Throwing away the future for thousands of young BVIslanders without a care. We are just lucky it was not the real thing. This man deserves no grace.
The VIP no longer honors the legacy of the late H.L. Stoutt; it merely exploits his memory. Today, the name is being used as a psychological tether for those who cannot look past the initials of VIP to the reality of the present. This is no longer the party H.L. built—so stop using his name to sanctify a vision he wouldn’t recognise.
On a fundamental level I get it. He is a criminal but he is still an important part of the party’s history. Unfortunately, we need to read the room. The US was doing air strikes in the region not less than two months ago regarding narco-trafficking. This just isn’t the time to try to celebrate the man, less we manufacture US consent ourselves.
Unfortunately the premier power in the region honours a convicted felon with its presidency. Not much of a role model.
Premier you have local people who could help the police, customs and immigration but you ignore the all the dam time.
Who is the fairest of them all?
Many of you hated what you created. Just like Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and had a great fall. You can’t put Humpty Dumpty together again but in his absence, many of you are the same criminals, just not caught. Many of you are sleeping with criminals to this very day. Many of you who here commenting about the downfall of Fahie are criminals also. Ain’t that so mirror????
Many of you have survived and continue to live off of criminal activity here so give me a break with the hoopla bullshit of how much a criminal Fahie is.
Head Coach didn’t just get caught in a petty crime. He committed treason against the BVI! Nothing about him should be celebrated or commemorated. Had he gotten in a vehicular accident and killed someone or gotten in a fight and badly hurt someone or something then that is different. But he committed treason against our country. That is not any little falling down. He caused the COI! That is not a small set back. But we know that it is politics season and you are trying to make sure that his following will support you and vote for your candidates. You are afraid to lose his supporters so you play politics and do not stand on principles or integrity! you have sold your soul and morality for political favor.
Wheatley’s alleged association with criminals and not once condemning a premier who damaged his own country and people for personal gain is miraculously acceptable in BVI.
The Premier is correct. Many will not like hearing this, but we must learn to compartmentalize Hon. Andrew Fahie—the accomplishments, the trajectory he was on, and the mistake he ultimately made. For a community that so often advertises itself as God-fearing, an inability to separate those things would be deeply hypocritical.
Some will challenge me and ask, “What did he accomplish?” If we are honest, we need only look at where the party was and where he took it. Fahie inherited a VIP that had been politically diminished, sitting, if memory serves, at roughly 11 to 2 in the House of Assembly. He then took a team composed largely of novice candidates and willed them into forming a government. That is not a small feat; that is an extraordinary political swing.His real strength, however, was not merely electoral victory—it was his ability to identify talent, develop it, and promote it. The highest responsibility of a leader is not simply to lead, but to create other leaders. On that measure, he arguably performed better than many who came before him. The clearest testament to that is that much of what he put in place still exists. In any serious institution, one definition of success is whether it can survive a change in leadership and continue to function effectively. That is often the true measure of leadership.
None of this is an endorsement of what Fahie did. What he did was short-sighted, fueled by hubris and impatience, and the result was both disappointing and tragic. But the fact remains that many nations still acknowledge and even celebrate leaders who were deeply flawed, because human beings are, by nature, flawed. We should be mature enough to do the same—to recognize both the contribution and the failure.
In truth, he is paying a greater price than anyone else, because he could have gone down in history as one of the best. Instead, his name will forever carry an asterisk. And that, perhaps, is the greatest punishment of all.
Fahie sold out our country for perceived personal gain he is where he belongs forgjj now.
This Premier is unfit for office, these comments should stop anyone voting for him
When it’s comes in by air once a day legally
I may be incorrect and not informed. Im going back a long time there was a news paper article in the Beacon. I recall an article saying that a convicted person once they have served their term in prison can not apply for a political position until after 30 days from their release. Ill stand corrected if anyone can find the actual working. Looked like the ministers were planning their long term careers.
The BIG youth is just from the script – and if looks like he either don’t have a choice OR he’s a part of the rodeo game that’s being played on us by these wannabe masterminds (•¿•) free the drew~ ” yo gat da Powah “