(Trinidad Guardian) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has hit back at former prime ministers of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) who have signed a “Zone of Peace” declaration, saying regional leaders do not understand the level of crime this country has had to endure.
She renewed her vow to place the safety of citizens of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) first. It comes as the USS Gravely is set to dock at the Port of Port-of-Spain from today with the 22nd US Marine Expeditionary Unit onboard. It is expected to remain in Port-of-Spain until Thursday.
On Friday, former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley added his signature to a joint declaration by ten former Caribbean leaders calling for the region to remain “a ‘Zone of Peace’ where the rule of law prevails”. It urges regional governments to resist being drawn into external conflicts, uphold international law, and preserve the Caribbean as a space of peace and stability.
The signatories include former leaders Baldwin Spencer (Antigua & Barbuda); Said Musa and Dean Barrow (Belize); Freundel Stuart (Barbados); Edison James (Dominica); Tillson Thomas (Grenada); Donald Ramotar (Guyana); Bruce Golding and PJ Patterson (Jamaica); and Kenny Anthony (St Lucia).
However, Persad-Bissessar yesterday hit back at her critics who claim she has abandoned Caricom’s neutral position and sided with the United States in its conflict with Venezuela.
Speaking to reporters outside of Parliament after wrapping up the Standing Finance Committee, she said, “We have had over 600 murders last year and almost every year counting. They have not had that experience. So, I think they have a different reality. In T&T the reality is we are crime-ridden, we are drug-ridden, we are cartel-ridden, we are gang-ridden, and therefore our approach has to be different. They are entitled to their view on the whole issue of a Zone of Peace, but in T&T there is clearly no Zone of Peace. There is none. Therefore, as I say, T&T first; we have to take care of our people first. I do not have the same view as they do because I think we are the worst impacted by this issue.”
When asked specifically about Rowley’s signature, she said, “That is why he was there for nine years; crime skyrocketed, and nothing was done. We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result. I am not surprised by his take on it, and maybe that is why he is a former prime minister. That is why the electorate voted him out.”
Persad-Bissessar said historically and geographically, T&T was the closest to where the drugs are coming from, the narcotrafficking, the human trafficking and the gun running. “We are more southern and the closest to the South American mainland, and therefore their experiences may be different from ours in Trinidad.”
With the arrival of the US warship today, Persad-Bissessar said there are benefits to the population that will be derived beyond security guarantees. She explained, “Safety is priority number one to help keep the narcotraffickers, drug traffickers, and human traffickers out. They are also going to give us some assistance, technical assistance, IT assistance and some humanitarian work in using their Marines and their Navy members to help us with schools or maybe some of our bases to upgrade. Our infrastructure has been so run down, so they have offered that as well. In addition to the safety, security and the training, they are also going to give us some training here in T&T.”
Defence Minister Wayne Sturge, in an exclusive interview with global media network Al Jazeera, which has a reporter in Trinidad covering the rising tensions in the region said, “If the US has deemed a country to be—or persons operating as—narco-traffickers and deemed them terrorists and they are waging a war on terror, then it’s up to them to come to that conclusion, because, as you understand, law is basically all about interpretation.
“You might not agree with their interpretation, but if their interpretation is that we have deemed these people to be narco-traffickers and they are—these narco-traffickers, sorry, to be terrorist organisations and they are waging war on them, that’s their prerogative. It hasn’t happened in our waters.”
It comes after two Trinidadian men were killed in US airstrikes on August 15. One has been identified as Chad Joseph and the other only as Samaroo. The family of Joseph has insisted he was not involved in drug trafficking and that he was a fisherman.
SOE extension under review at NSC meeting
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said she will meet with the National Security Council this weekend to determine the way forward for the ongoing State of Emergency (S0E). The SoE was extended on July 28 and will expire on October 28. The Government will have to go to Parliament to seek an extension but will need a simple majority. Persad-Bissessar said, “Over this weekend, we intend to meet the National Security Council, some of us, together with the Commissioner of Police, to get their views on what their suggestions or recommendations may be. We will act on the recommendations of the security forces.”
The Government announced an SOE on July 18. The move came after a formal recommendation from Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, based on intelligence pointing to the existence of a sophisticated criminal network operating from inside the prison system.
