British Virgin Islands avoids direct U.K. rule amid scrutiny

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The British Virgin Islands announced Wednesday that it has avoided direct rule by the United Kingdom for now after its premier was recently arrested on cocaine charges and an unrelated report found widespread corruption in the overseas territory.

Gov. John Rankin said the agreement to retain local governance was reached with U.K. officials who traveled to the Caribbean territory last month to talk about the report’s findings and the arrest of Premier Andrew Fahie in Florida in late April.

The corruption inquiry that began in January 2021 and whose results were released a day after Fahie was arrested recommended that officials suspend the British territory’s constitution and locally elected parliamentary government for at least two years, but Rankin said that will not happen as long as the local government meets several conditions.