Trinidad PM says Opposition is financed by ‘local drug mafia’

Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, on Monday accused the opposition People’s National Movement of being financed by the “local drug mafia” and fuelling an anti-United States “narrative,” amid public debate over the installation of U.S. military radar systems in the Caribbean nation.

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The PNM’s Tobago Council leader, Ancil Dennis, has since urged the government to remove the newly installed military radar system at Arthur NR Robinson International Airport in Tobago.

In a widely shared social media video, Dennis pointed to the radar while standing on a road near the airport, accusing the government of “taking us for fools.”

“You see that camouflage thing spinning in there?” he said, referencing the radar. “That’s the road that the Prime Minister said a few days ago was being built by a foreign government to assist us here in Tobago.”

He also highlighted conflicting explanations from senior officials, adding he had been told “this is a refuelling plane” and that the equipment was part of “standard international upgrades” to the airport.

The controversy intensified last week when THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said he was unaware of the radar system, sparking an emergency meeting over the weekend. That meeting included Attorney General John Jeremie, Defence Minister Wayne Sturge, Chief of Defence Staff Commodore Don Polo, and General Dan Caine, chairman of the United Chiefs of Staff, who also visited Tobago last weekend for high-level security talks.

In a statement posted on X, Persad-Bissessar alleged that “many persons, groups, politicians, and businesses who are profiting from drug trafficking are fuelling this anti-American narrative.” She encouraged citizens to scrutinize those opposing drug interdiction efforts.

“When people show you who they are, believe them,” she said, later writing that “it is not surprising that the PNM, a party long suspected of being financed by the local drug mafia… will be against the Government’s anti-drug and anti-human-trafficking efforts.”

Persad-Bissessar also accused the PNM hierarchy of prioritizing “illegal profits” over citizens’ safety.

Her comments landed amid a regional backdrop of rising tensions, including U.S. actions in Venezuela. Trinidad PM clarified that Washington’s radar installation was requested by her as a temporary measure, not a military strategy against Venezuela.

“Contrary to public speculation,” she said, “she was the one who requested the US to put up a radar system here.”

Speaking outside Parliament last Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar had assured the public: “It is not a military force as such. We are not about to launch any campaign against Venezuela.”

She later acknowledged keeping the radar request confidential due to national security sensitivity, explaining that publicly disclosing the installation would “broadcast to narco and human traffickers… that we were installing a radar.”

“It would be counterproductive to our citizens’ safety,” she told local media.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said land strikes against Venezuela “will start very soon,” but Persad-Bissessar firmly denied any Tobagonian involvement in those plans.

The U.S. has significantly expanded its military presence in the Caribbean Sea as part of its Southern Command mission to counter regional drug cartels. That deployment includes the nuclear-powered reconnaissance aircraft P-8 Poseidon squadron, an amphibious squadron of United States Marines in the southern Caribbean, destroyers, a guided-missile cruiser, P-8 aircraft, an attack submarine, a guided-missile cruiser, and the nuclear-powered carrier Gerald Ford.

At a weekend press briefing, Sturge urged citizens against “panic mode” over U.S. Marines stationed in Tobago.

“The airport in Crown Point is not a launchpad for any military operations,” he said. “In the Atlantic, very close by, is the Gerald Ford… and it is there for that purpose. There is no need” for Trinidad and Tobago to be used for strikes against Venezuela.

Sturge added that the airport radar was installed specifically to strengthen national surveillance in combating “drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and… human trafficking into Tobago.”

According to Sturge, the operation falls under U.S. Southern Command — a defense partnership requested by the Trinidad PM, not a prelude to military action.

Persad-Bissessar reaffirmed in her Monday statement that Tobago’s territory is “the most secure they have ever been,” and citizens are “the safest they have ever been.”

“I am ultimately responsible for their safety and security,” she said, pledging to prevent “a bloody year like 2024.”

She also repeated appreciation for U.S. support: “I requested a temporary radar system be installed here, and I am thankful that the US gave us one of the best systems available… to install and operate it.”