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US President Donald Trump, right, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a media briefing after a cabinet meeting on August 26. - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trinidad and Tobago is part of a US-led coalition, comprising Caribbean and Latin American countries, which is co-operating to stop the flow of drugs into the US.
The US has sent a fleet of warships to the southern Caribbean aimed at crippling the Cartel de los Soles of Venezuela, which it said is responsible for the majority of illegal drugs flooding its streets,
Speaking during a cabinet meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on August 26, Rubio said for the first time in modern times, the US was on the offence against organised cartels pumping poisons into American cities.
“We’re getting incredible economic international co-operation. Countries just in the last week, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guyana, Trinidad, today Argentina, all joining us or trying to be helpful in advancing this. And one thing is there, we’re going to stop drugs coming in, we’re having record seizures, but another thing is to have an international coalition against the scourge on the international stage.”
Responding to questions from Newsday about the alliance, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said her government’s sole intention is to make the country safe again.
“We will work with anyone to fight the scourge of drug, arms and human trafficking,” she said via WhatsApp.
“We had over ten thousand murders in the last 25 years. the country has been drowning in blood, I will accept any help that is available to make out community safe again.”
The US statement of an alliance comes a few days after US vice president JD Vance unfavourably compared TT’s crime rate to that of the US capital, Washington DC.
Persad-Bissessar on August 23 said TT would allow the US unflinching access to its territory if Venezuela ever attacked Guyana.
Venezuela and Guyana have been at loggerheads over the oil-rich Essequibo region, with the former staking its claim.
On August 26, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Colombian National Defense Ministry to enhance collaboration in aerial surveillance and regional security.
In a statement, the GDF said the agreement seeks to strengthen co-operation in monitoring and safeguarding airspace, with a focus on countering illicit activities and improving situational awareness.
Guyanese chief of defence Staff Brigadier Omar Khan described the partnership with Colombia as an important step in advancing Guyana’s defence agenda and said he believes the agreement will enhance the GDF’s ability to protect the nation’s sovereignty and contribute to a safer, more secure region.
According to an article in the Miami Herald on August 26, the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and the nuclear-powered fast attack submarine USS Newport News will arrive in Caribbean waters by early next week.
It said the ships will join the deployment that began assembling in the region last week. That group includes the amphibious ships San Antonio, Iwo Jima and Fort Lauderdale, which officials said could be stationed off Venezuela’s northern coast.
Together, the first three ships are carrying about 4,500 personnel, including a Marine expeditionary unit of roughly 2,200 troops trained for rapid crisis response. Trump vowed to deploy the US military against narco-traffickers in the Southern Caribbean and Rubio has claimed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro heads a trafficking organisation.
The US has placed US$50 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Maduro.
In return, Maduro has vowed to deploy 4.5 million militiamen across Venezuela, a rallying cry picked up by vice president Delcy Rodriguez urging Venezuelans to sign up.
Attempts to reach former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley and former foreign and Caricom affairs minister Dr Amery Browne for comment were unsuccessful up to press time.
(With reporting by Stephon Nicholas)
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