Mother of US airstrike victim leaves Govt ‘in God’s hands’

Senior Reporter

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The mother of Chad “Charpo” Joseph, one of two local men killed in a US airstrike supposedly targeting narco-traffickers, says she is putting the Government in God’s hands.

Her son and another man, identified as Richie Samaroo, were killed in the fifth airstrike last Tuesday. Government officials, including Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, reiterated the country’s support for the attacks, which many have described as extrajudicial killings.

In a statement on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs affirmed that the US operations were not intended to target law-abiding people, including fisherfolk and other seafarers trying to earn an honest living.

The ministry also referred to a recent release from the Caribbean Community (Caricom), stating that the US operations—supposedly aimed at combating narco- and human trafficking and other forms of transnational crime—are ultimately intended to allow the region to become a true “Zone of Peace.”

The US conducted its first airstrike on September 2 in the southern Caribbean, after deploying several naval ships to the region. So far, 32 people have been killed in seven lethal attacks by the US, which aims to dismantle drug-trafficking networks. The Government has backed the US action, with Persad-Bissessar reportedly urging the US to deal with suspected drug smugglers “violently.”

When asked about the Government’s stance, Burnley said: “I am leaving them in God’s hands. I not thinking too much nah!”

She added that, while she does not want to believe her son was killed, she is assured that if he were alive, he would have contacted the family by now. She said she was informed of his death through phone calls from those who knew him.

Burnley also spoke about a photograph of her son circulating on social media, showing Joseph and two others being arrested. She said he was not held for trafficking narcotics, but for ammunition, and that the matter is still ongoing.

Relatives said Joseph worked as a fisherman.

The mother said a memorial service for Joseph will be held at his grandmother’s residence on Wednesday evening.