PNM tells PM: Look within UNC for ‘criminal ties’

Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles. - File photo

THE Opposition has condemned Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for claiming the PNM party was linked to the drug mafia. In a statement on October 24, the PNM said her statement was “entirely baseless, viciously reckless and highly defamatory.”

It said the comment was a desperate attempt to distract from her government’s failures and the growing public backlash against her leadership.

Persad-Bissessar, in a statement earlier in the day, accused the PNM of creating a daily disinformation campaign in an attempt "to protect their drug mafia financiers.” She said “the Opposition PNM and their agents are persistent in creating unnecessary hysteria and conspiracy theories in a desperate attempt to create instability and chaos.”

In an immediate response, the Opposition said this is not the first time a US naval asset has visited TT, as such visits have been routine under successive governments as part of long-standing security co-operation.

“What makes this particular visit deeply concerning is the timing. It comes during a period of extreme regional tension with Venezuela and heightened anxiety among our citizens.

“Instead of offering clarity, the Prime Minister has refused to address the nation or explain her government’s erratic, isolationist, anti-Caricom foreign policy. Her silence demonstrates a blatant disregard for the principles of international law and the UN Charter, both of which call for the avoidance of the use or threat of force and for respect for the sovereignty of all nations.”

The Opposition said the “delusional assault” on the PNM came on the heels of the Prime Minister’s “wildly irrational attack on the Law Association of TT.

“Such conduct is unworthy of a head of government and reveals the instability and desperation within her administration.

“The Opposition condemns outright her disgraceful and unfounded claim that the PNM is ‘a party long suspected of being financed by the local drug mafia.’ This is a malicious lie and a gross abuse of her office. Without a shred of evidence, she has tried to smear the PNM in the context of drug trafficking...

“Before the Prime Minister dares to accuse anyone of corruption or criminal ties, she should first look in the mirror and confront the rot within her own ranks. Her hypocrisy is staggering. While hurling baseless accusations at others, she remains silent and complicit in the face of credible allegations within her own administration.”

The PNM said it had always upheld strong and respectful relations between TT and the US.

“Under PNM governments, our international and regional partnerships have flourished, built on mutual respect and shared democratic values.”

The statement said in December 2024, the US Department of Defense renewed and amended the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with TT under a PNM administration. It said this continued long-standing co-operation under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Technical Assistance Field Team (CBSI-TAFT) and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA). These agreements were first established by the PNM in 2007 to strengthen national and regional security through genuine partnership, not politics.

“This latest tirade is nothing more than a diversion from public unease over her government’s lack of consultation in the rushed appointment of a new Chief Justice, and from the Opposition’s exposure of the false promises and poor performance revealed during the Standing Finance Committee, where the Prime Minister has attended for barely five minutes out of 40 hours of scrutiny.

“At a time when citizens are demanding answers on job losses, rising hardship, and economic instability, the Prime Minister has chosen personal attacks over leadership.”

The Opposition said it remains focused on holding “this failing government to account and defending the people’s right to truth, security, and stability.”

In response, the Prime Minister doubled down on her earlier statement, telling Newsday via WhatsApp message,

“The PNM will not be allowed to continue protecting their drug mafia financiers under my watch. They are currently defending illegal drug and arms traffickers from attack. They have previously been attacking stand your ground laws to defend violent home invaders. They tried to get violent gang leaders returned to the maximum-security prison from Teteron so they could resume their criminal activities.

"In Parliament yesterday they attempted to expose covert information regarding drones and vehicles. What is their real motive? Is it to allow drugs to flow freely into the country to fill their drug mafia financiers pockets?

“Their only concern is the protection of their drug mafia financiers. It appears to the sensible citizens that the PNM is not a national party but a narco party like their friends across the gulf.”

International relations expert Prof Anthony Bryan on October 24 said the language used by the Prime Minister was “strong and defamatory, when there is no proof that the PNM is a narco party similar to those in Venezuela. The statement is perhaps libellous.”