CHARLESTOWN, St. Kitts and Nevis Nevis seccessionists narrowlylost a vote to break away from St. Kitts, reflecting fears ofbecoming the smallest nation in the Western Hemisphere, according tounofficial results.
With a couple hundred votes still to be counted, 2,427 voted infavor of secession and 1,418 against. It fell short of thetwo-thirds of votes needed.
Some voters said they were dissuaded from voting "yes" in thehastily called referendum because no one had explained what wouldhappen if they seceded.
When the islands became independent in 1983, Nevis reluctantlyjoined in a federation with neighboring St. Kitts, population 32,000.But Nevisians insisted on a constitutional clause allowing them tobreak away.
After years of complaining that they are treated likesecond-class citizens by the federal government on St. Kitts, theyinvoked that right with Monday's vote.
Premier Vance Amory, the force behind the independence drive,urged citizens to ignore naysayers who warned the tiny island cannotsustain itself in a global economy.
"Small is not an indication of capability," Amory said Sunday.
But opposition leader Joseph Parry said the island wasn'teconomically, politically or psychologically ready for secession.
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