GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Nov 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The Caribbean nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday swore in a new prime minister for the first time in 24 years after elections unseated the left-leaning Ralph Gonsalves.

Gonsalves, a loyal ally to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, had held office since 2001, but his Unity Labor Party managed to win only one of the 15 constituencies.

Meanwhile, Godwin Friday's New Democratic Party took home the remaining 14, giving him a comprehensive victory in the tourism-dependent archipelago of just 100,000 inhabitants.

Gonsalves -- one of the world's longest serving democratic leaders -- had not publicly acknowledged the result by Friday evening. But his son and former finance minister Camillo Gonsalves accepted defeat in the constituency where he was running.

The 66-year-old Friday, a historian by trade, won after promising financial aid for new mothers, jobs for people sacked for refusing Covid-19 vaccines, and support for small businesses.

He also pledged to lower the cost of living.

"I know that we are a poor country, but we can do a lot more with what we have than we are doing currently, and I urge us all to work to that end," Friday said shortly after taking office.

The election happened amid a US military buildup in the Caribbean where it has deployed the world's largest aircraft carrier, officially to tackle drug smuggling from Venezuela into the United States.

Caracas, however, has accused Washington of seeking to force Maduro from power.

Gonsalves regularly backed Maduro in regional organizations such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

He also hosted a 2023 summit between Maduro and his Guyanese counterpart Irfaan Ali at a time when tensions mounted between the countries over the disputed Essequibo region, which Venezuela claims as its own.

Alongside Maduro, Gonsalves was close with Brazil's leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Cuba's Miguel Diaz-Canel.