Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar strongly defended Trinidad and Tobago’s support of the US during a blistering address at the opening of the 50th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in St Kitts last night.
The Prime Minster credited the US security cooperation for a reported 42% drop in murders in Trinidad and Tobago.
“There were 257 less murders in T&T. I could say thanks again to President Trump and thanks again to Secretary (of State) Marco Rubio. I thank them and the US military for the cooperation and what they shared with us for national security matters,” Mrs Persad-Bissessar said.
“Maybe in your island you do not have the kind of crime we have. You know in Trinidad there is a saying, ‘Who vex lost.’ But we gained. We gained from the help, that military help and i would welcome them again,” she added.
Turing the Cuba, Mrs Persad-Bissessar urged regional leaders not to support what she called a dictatorship and urged that Cuban citizens should have the same democratic rights enjoyed across the Caribbean.
“Why do some CARICOM governments and political parties believe that they and their parties and their supporters should have the right to contest democratic elections to choose them as leaders, but the Cuban citizens have no rights to free and fair elections?” she said.
“We cannot advocate for others to live under communism and dictatorship but we want to live here, in our CARICOM region under democracy and capitalism,” Mrs Persad-Bissessar added.
The Prime Minister also criticised CARICOM for their “unreliability” after Venezuelan authorities levelled threats against Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana in 2025.
“How could the Caribbean be a zone of peace when a narco-dictator who imprisoned and killed thousands of civilians and opposition members, was threatening violence on two CARICOM member states?” she said.
“As a result of CARICOM’s unreliability in the above situation, Trinidad and Tobago’s Government will no longer bind itself to the political ideologies or foreign and security policies of CARICOM,” Mrs Persad-Bissessar added.
The Prime Minister said that Trinidad and Tobago as an independent state will craft “our foreign and security policies to defend our sovereignty as we see fit.”
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Trinidad and Tobago’s commitment to CARICOM and invited Member States to encourage their nationals to take advantage of educational opportunities at the UWI South Campus upon commencement of its academic programmes.
