Britain continued to handle the external affairs of all three territories (British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Montserrat). Relations with neighboring islands were generally good, although Anguilla remained wary of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The three territories belonged to various international and regional associations. The British Virgin Islands belonged to the Commonwealth of Nations and the CDB and was an associate member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS--see Glossary). Anguilla also was a member of the Commonwealth, the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), and the Civil Aviation Authority. Some other islands had objected to Anguilla's joining the ECCB, alleging that the free market in United States dollars that existed on Anguilla was a major contributor to foreign exchange leakage from the region using the Eastern Caribbean dollar, the common currency used by OECS members as well as Anguilla and Monteserrat. Anguilla's attempt in 1984 to join the OECS was rejected. Montserrat belonged to the ECCB, as well as the Commonwealth, the International Conference of Free Trade Unions, the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce, the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom--see Appendix C), the UN Economic Council for Latin America, and the CDB. It was also a full member of the OECS.

Data as of November 1987

NOTE: The information regarding Saint Kitts and Nevis on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of British Caribbean Dependencies Foreign Relations information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about British Caribbean Dependencies Foreign Relations Commonwealth should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.