Antigua and Barbuda's Finance Minister flew to Washington, D.C. last week to meet with United States trade officials in an attempt to resolve an ongoing dispute over online gambling payments, the Antigua Sun reported last Wednesday.

Dr. Errol Cort said that the current round of meetings with United States Trade Relations representatives could result in an agreement.

"We've been holding discussions and negotiations over many months. I believe that we've reached a point where we might be able to conclude these negotiations," Cort said.

The U.S. has so far reneged on its obligation to pay the tiny Caribbean nation $21 million awarded to it as part of a World Trade Organization decision in December 2007.

The WTO ruled that Washington had wrongly blocked online gaming operators from the island nation while at the same time allowing online wagering on horse racing. Antigua and Barbuda claimed annual damages of $3.44 billion, while the U.S. claimed it had caused only $500,000 worth of damage to the Antiguan economy.

And despite the obvious compromise in the amount of damages earned, the two nations remain at loggerheads more than a year later.

The 2007 ruling was significant for one other reason in that it gave Antigua the right to violate copyright protections on goods like films, music and software products made in the U.S., by allowing them to distribute copies of the items.

With the Obama administration to be inaugurated Tuesday, a policy change could be possible both in regards to this dispute and to the United States' broader online gambling policy.