Caribbean voters living in the tiny island of Dominica will head to the polls on Dec. 18 for general elections, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced during a rally.

In an address to supporters of his Dominica Labor Party on Thursday night, Skerrit told Dominicans that his is the only political party ``with a clear and stated vision for how we will advance this country and from where we will get the resources to do such.''

``I repeat without fear of contradiction, that as of tonight, there is only one vision and one plan on the table for taking Dominica forward and to the next level, and that is the vision and the plan of the Dominica Labour Party,'' Skerrit stated. ``The economic well-being of our country is at stake. Tonight, it is under siege.''

Dominican last held general elections in 2005. Since then, Skerrit has come under fire by opposition party leaders, accusing his government of corruption and of helping Venezuela's Hugo Chávez spread his influence to the Caribbean. Dominica was the first English-speaking Caribbean nation to join Chávez's mostly Spanish-speaking, Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). ``I can understand the concern and consternation of our friends in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where today the current Government of Dominica has clearly embraced their expression of friendship and cooperation, but conversely, the Opposition of Dominica has indicated at every opportunity its intention to sever ties with the Government of President Hugo Chavez,'' Skerrit said.

Further defending the country's relationship with Venezuela and the benefits it has provided, Skerrit told Dominicans there's a lot at stake with the upcoming elections.

``The future of PetroCaribe is in limbo . . . the future of ALBA is in limbo . . . several hundred million dollars worth of capital projects are in limbo because of the mixed and confusing signals and messages sent by the opposition political parties of this country,'' he said referring to their opposition to Venezuela.