‘To partner with the US is to defend the region,’ says Trinidad PM at CARICOM Summit

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar delivered a pointed and unapologetic defence of her government’s cooperation with the United States, while rebuking regional leaders over what she described as political interference within member states.

Speaking at the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in St. Kitts and Nevis, Persad-Bissessar said the regional body must not be used to advance partisan interests across borders.

“CARICOM is an organization [that] should not be misused by anyone to benefit or protect political parties and friends affiliated with the incumbent government,” she said.

Without naming specific countries, she accused some regional governments of sending party representatives into fellow member states to campaign during national elections.

“If we have to hug up each other and cooperate, it cannot be that last week you sent your person down to St. Vincent or to Jamaica or to wherever,” she said. “No leader here sitting would want another CARICOM head of state to send people to campaign in your domain. That should never happen.”

Turning to national security, Persad-Bissessar strongly defended her administration’s partnership with U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the U.S. military in tackling narcotics trafficking and gang violence.

“I say thank you today for standing firm against narco-trafficking, human and arms smuggling originated from Venezuela,” she said.

Trinidad and Tobago had been grappling with illegal migration, arms smuggling and gang activity linked to Venezuela, she said, and credited recent policy changes — including closer security coordination with Washington — for a significant drop in homicides.

In 2024, she noted, the country recorded 623 murders in a population of roughly 1.4 million, with 40% described as gang-related and driven by narcotics and firearms. Crime, she argued, had previously been framed as a “public health issue,” a characterization she rejected.

“Because of the crime, you’re not alive to get any public health. You’re dead,” she said.

Following what she described as a shift in policy and enhanced U.S. military cooperation in the Caribbean, Persad-Bissessar said Trinidad and Tobago’s murder rate declined by 42% in 2025 — a reduction of 257 killings.

“That’s 257 less people who would have been dead had we not taken that course of action,” she said, again thanking Trump, Rubio and U.S. security forces for their assistance.

“To partner with the U.S. is not to undermine the Caribbean region, but to defend it,” she said, adding that her government would continue working with Washington “in the best interests of our citizens to drive destabilizing and destructive forces out of our country, out of our region, and out of our hemisphere.”

Persad-Bissessar also extended sympathy to the government and people of Mexico amid ongoing cartel-related violence there, warning that Trinidad and Tobago could have faced a similar trajectory without decisive action.

Her remarks introduced a sharp tone to the CARICOM meeting, blending regional diplomacy with domestic political tensions and a firm declaration of her government’s security strategy.