Trinidad PM backs US drugs policy

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is continuing her dispute with Caribbean neighbours over their attitude to United States policy in the region.

Persad-Bissessar backs the strident US policy towards international drug trafficking and its hostility to Venezuela. The latest argument came when the prime minister demanded the exit of CARICOM’s Secretary-General Carla Barnett after her five-year term ends.

Regional tensions among members of CARICOM, a 15-member regional trade bloc, spiked last year when governments denounced US military action in the South Caribbean and the build-up of an unusually large American force near Venezuela intended to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Regional neighbours previously called for the Caribbean to remain a “zone of peace,” but Persad-Bissessar dismissed the label as “zone of peace fakery”, declaring support behind US military strikes and the Trump administration’s broader campaign against international drug trafficking and organised crime.

She has now turned her focus to CARICOM’s general operations, demanding that Secretary-General Barnett steps down in August.

Since winning Trinidad’s general election last year, the prime minister has repeatedly pushed for Barnett’s removal, reminding leaders that Trinidad pays around $20 million which is 22% of CARICOM’s annual budget.

Persad-Bissessar has repeatedly expressed her administration’s deep dissatisfaction with the bloc’s current operations, saying she remains puzzled why the region aligned with Venezuela and Maduro rather than supporting the US position.

“CARICOM has chosen to support the Maduro narco-government through the fake zone of peace narrative,” she said in a statement four months ago as the US was preparing for action against Maduro and as Caribbean governments complained about the alleged illegality of the deadly boat strikes.

Meanwhile, Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez chose Grenada as her first overseas destination since taking office, following the ousting and abduction of Maduro and his wife by the United States in January.

In St George’s on Thursday, Rodriguez met with Governor-General Dame Cécile Ellen Fleurette La Grenade, before holding formal talks and other engagements with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell and other dignitaries. These meetings underscored the importance Grenada places on the evolving relationship with Venezuela.

Despite the cordial exchange, there has been immense opposition in Grenada to prevent the US military to set up a radar facility at the main airport.

Politicians, civil society groups, and Grenadian citizens had taken to the streets and to social media platforms to rail against the proposal from the US, where hatred of the US military still exists for invading Grenada in 1983. Despite these strong objections, the radar system, designed to monitor activity 100 miles south of Venezuela, was eventually established.