As the USS Gravely warship arrives at the Port-of-Spain Port this morning, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley yesterday expressed concern at “menacing military” US vessels across the Caribbean Sea. She has called for dialogue to prevent war from starting.
“The violent actions this build-up has led to need to be the subject of dialogue. Let us have dialogue to prevent the war from starting,” Mottley declared, addressing last night’s Barbados Labour Party’s 86th annual conference in Bridgetown.Mottley also sent certain warnings to the US. Further, she thanked former Caricom prime ministers for their recent call to order against the US military presence and for territories to refrain from hosting military assets with the potential to cause regional conflicts.
This comes as the USS Gravely and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) dock at 9 am. The 500-foot-plus, missile-ready destroyer is dropping anchor in Trinidad and Tobago until Thursday. The Gravely is part of 11 US warships in the region since August, when the US Trump administration launched a drug cartel-curbing mission—an initiative supported by Trinidad and Tobago. The latest warship was the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier.
The US focus on Venezuela as a drug trafficking source has been seen by Venezuela—and other quarters—as cover for a US attempt at regime change targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US military presence, and its destruction of seven boats and 34 people allegedly transporting drugs, has attracted strong pushback from hemispheric entities. This included present Caricom leaders (minus Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar) and 11 past Caricom leaders (including former T&T prime minister Keith Rowley).
Today, government officials said US officials from the vessel will meet certain UNC government ministers after the Gravely docks. The media will not be allowed on the ship.
Yesterday, Barbados PM Mottley’s wide-ranging address included the tensions in the region. Mottley cited her party as an example of good governance in the Caribbean, which would continue championing democracy, human rights, and the rule of law internationally.
“Our voices in international fora will always stand on principle, whether speaking up for the sovereignty of small nations or calling for countries like Cuba to be protected and brought back into the international community by removing embargoes, or calling out global inequities.
“If ever we needed a reminder of how unstable and how dangerous this world that we live in is, and how vulnerable our Caribbean region is, it is now with us—facing a multiplicity of threats,” she added.
“We don’t need to look any further than the menacing vessels—military vessels from the United States across the Caribbean Sea, including what is reputed to be the world’s largest warship. These are not times of pirates anymore—this is 2025, and we have cause to be duly concerned.”
She noted that amid this, the Northern Caribbean was facing a hurricane threat.
“Peace is critical to all that we do in this region! And now that peace is being threatened, we have to speak up!”
Mottley thanked the former prime ministers of the community for the very strong statement issued by them for the fundamental principle that was agreed upon on the formation of the Caribbean Community by Dr Eric Williams. “I want to thank them because, without their statement, we are possibly going to have others think that those who now lead governments are speaking in vain without reflecting on the fact that this has been a core principle of the Caribbean Community from its very inception. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, prime ministers!”
Mottley believes the time has come “… for us therefore, to be able to ensure that we do accept that any entity has the right to engage in extrajudicial killings of persons they suspect of being involved in criminal activities. We stand for the rule of law, and we believe that if there is other intelligence available that would cause you to take action that is an immediate threat to you as a nation, then you have a duty to share it with us. But on the face of it, conflating law enforcement with military action is a dangerous step”.
