PJ Patterson says US strikes in Caribbean are ‘fundamentally dangerous’

Former Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has described recent U.S. drone attacks on vessels in Caribbean waters as “fundamentally dangerous and a horrible erosion of regional leaders’ commitment to sovereignty in the region.”

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Since September 2, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized strikes on at least five vessels in the Caribbean Sea, claiming they were carrying drugs destined for the United States. According to U.S. officials, these operations have resulted in the deaths of 27 people, including six in the most recent strike on Tuesday.

Speaking to The Gleaner, Patterson, who led Jamaica from 1992 to 2006, said the strikes undermine longstanding regional commitments to peace.

“At our very first meeting in 1972, in Chaguaramus, the four independent countries—Jamaica under Michael Manley, Barbados under Errol Barrow, Guyana under Forbes Burnham, and under the chairmanship of Eric Williams (then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago)—declared the Caribbean to be a zone of peace,” Patterson said.

“What we are witnessing is a fundamentally dangerous and horrible erosion of that firm commitment to assert our collective sovereignty in the area. It is a matter which compels the heads of governments in the Caribbean, as a matter of the greatest urgency, to be in consultations and seek to take a common position, hopefully in reaffirmation of that inviolable position.”

Patterson’s remarks come amid reports from Trinidad that two citizens may have been among six people killed in a U.S. strike targeting a vessel allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela. President Trump claimed the vessel carried six “narcoterrorists” but provided no evidence to support the assertion.

Residents of the fishing village of Las Cuevas told local police that two Trinidadians were aboard the sunken vessel, though authorities are still confirming their deaths. One of the potential victims has been identified as 26-year-old fisherman Chad Joseph, whose mother, Lenore Burnley, said relatives in Venezuela reported he was on the boat. Another possible victim, referred to locally as Samaroo, has also been reported.

These operations are part of a series of U.S. military actions aimed at halting drug trafficking off the Venezuelan coast. Washington maintains the strikes are necessary to prevent narcotics from reaching American shores.

The incident follows controversial remarks by Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who praised a previous U.S. strike on another suspected drug vessel that killed 11 people.

“I, along with most of the country, am happy that the U.S. naval deployment is having success in their mission,” Persad-Bissessar said. “The pain and suffering the cartels have inflicted on our nation is immense. I have no sympathy for traffickers; the U.S. military should kill them all violently.”

She added, “Our country has been ravaged by bloody violence and addiction because of the greed of the cartels. The slaughter of our people is fueled by evil cartel traffickers.”

The escalating U.S. military activity in Caribbean waters has sparked growing concern among regional leaders about sovereignty, civilian safety, and the potential impact on local communities.