Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has elected a new prime minister for the first time in 24 years, ending the long rule of Ralph Gonsalves. Godwin Friday, leader of the New Democratic Party, secured a landslide victory by winning 14 of 15 parliamentary seats, defeating Gonsalves’ Unity Labour Party, which managed to retain only one seat. Friday, a 66-year-old historian, campaigned on promises to reduce living costs, provide financial aid to new mothers, create jobs for the unemployed, and support small businesses in the tourism-dependent island nation of about 100,000 people. He was sworn in on November 29. The election took place amid growing U.S. military activity in the Caribbean, officially aimed at combating drug trafficking but viewed by Venezuela as an attempt to undermine President Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of Gonsalves. Friday urged citizens to work together to build a more prosperous future for the nation.