19 hours ago
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Senior Reporter
Regional political analyst Peter Wickham has warned that the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration may be venturing into dangerous territory, appearing to endorse extra-judicial killings as part of its crime-fighting strategy.
Wickham was responding to the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s latest statement supporting US military actions in the southern Caribbean. The ministry warned nationals engaging in illegal activity between Trinidad and Venezuelan waters would be “at their own peril.”
That statement, issued on Sunday, came five days after a US drone strike on a vessel allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela killed six people, including two Trinidadians. Neither US nor T&T officials have provided evidence to support the claim.
It also followed a seventh strike on a vessel in the southern Caribbean, which took the death count to 32 and came after a Caricom declaration on Saturday reaffirming the Caribbean as a “zone of peace.” All member states, except Trinidad and Tobago, which reserved its position, agreed to maintain the region as a peaceful space, continue cooperation against narco-trafficking and the illegal arms trade within international law, and uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional states.
Wickham described the Government’s refusal to back the declaration as “deeply unfortunate,” saying the administration appears to be “hitching its wagon to the star of Donald Trump.”
He said the push for the Dragon gas project underscores that dependency and warned that T&T’s stance toward Venezuela has revived Cold War-era divisions in the region.
“I do have some level of discomfort regarding this assumption that the United States of America is in a position to just give away Venezuela’s gas or alternatively that the elected government of Venezuela is illegitimate and it is not to be recognised or alternatively can be changed out.”
Wickham said T&T’s current foreign policy has created uncertainty across the Caribbean, recalling that former leaders like Dr Eric Williams “stood against the Grenada invasion” while others supported it. “It’s interesting now that you have almost a complete and total reversal,” he added.
He also questioned whether the Government’s next move could be a more authoritarian approach to tackling crime.
“I’m challenged to understand how these extrajudicial killings, these executions are taking place in international waters, presumably, could be seen as being within the law. The question is, what implications does that have for similar actions that are taking place on land? I mean, Trinidad and Tobago has a huge criminal problem, and I am a bit concerned at the fact that similar strategies may very well be adopted in respect of the presumption of guilt and a presumption that persons who are guilty ought to be dealt with in this rather dramatic fashion, a final fashion.”
Referring to the massive “No Kings” protests in Chicago against the US leader, Wickham cautioned that Trump has his own internal challenges to contend with and described his foreign policy as unstable and unpredictable.
“My sense is the Donald Trump basket is notoriously unpredictable. It’s transactional. Everyone knows this. It’s not driven to any kind of ideological base. And, you know, if there’s a better deal to be had elsewhere, you know, he’s probably gone. So it’s unwise within the context of his administration. And I think it is unwise in the long term.”
Despite mounting regional criticism, Wickham believes the Persad-Bissessar administration is unlikely to face immediate political fallout, as “the Westminster system does not allow easily for collapse.”
English (US) ·