T&T PM challenges Caricom credibility

The CARICOM summit opens under strain as Trinidad and Tobago breaks ranks on the US security stance on Cuba​.

CARICOM leaders gathering in St. Kitts and Nevis for the bloc’s 50th Regular Meeting are confronting an unusually sharp test of regional unity, with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar openly challenging the grouping’s credibility while staking out positions that diverge from the prevailing CARICOM line on US security policy, Venezuela, and Cuba.

What’s new / Why now:

The summit arrives after Persad-Bissessar, in recent months, has publicly described CARICOM as an “unreliable partner” that is “dysfunctional and self-destructive,” language that senior regional officials privately view as a direct hit to the bloc’s tradition of consensus diplomacy. The dispute is not just rhetorical: Trinidad and Tobago has also aligned itself more explicitly with an expanded US military role in the Caribbean, arguing that drug and gun trafficking threats demand firm international cooperation.

Key fault line​..US security posture and Venezuela

At the centre of the split is Persad-Bissessar’s unequivocal support for US operations framed as counter-narcotics activity off Venezuela. Her broader argument is that regional security realities outweigh concerns that a more visible US military posture could erode sovereignty norms or heighten tensions in the wider Caribbean basin. At a September CELAC emergency meeting, Trinidad and Tobago reportedly stood alone among CARICOM members in supporting the US military presence, while other CARICOM states signalled discomfort on sovereignty and security grounds.

The political temperature rises further because the underlying Venezuela narrative is contested and high-stakes. The source text claims US operations led to the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3​. Even without that claim, Persad-Bissessar’s charge that CARICOM is choosing a “narco-government” in Caracas over democratic allies marks a break from the bloc’s historically cautious, collectively managed approach to Venezuela.

Secondary pressure... uneven US immigration measures:

Complicating the summit dynamic is a separate but politically potent issue: 11 CARICOM states, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Jamaica, reportedly face a pause on US immigrant visas and the imposition of US$15,000 travel bonds, while Trinidad and Tobago remains exempt. At home, the exemption is being debated as coincidence, consequence, or quiet diplomacy. Regionally, the optics risk feeding suspicion that member states may be rewarded or penalized based on alignment with Washington, a dynamic that could weaken CARICOM’s leverage if it encourages bilateral deal-making over bloc positions.

Third fault line... Cuba framing (humanitarian vs governance):

CARICOM leaders have expressed concern over Cuba’s deepening humanitarian crisis and criticized a January 29 US executive order targeting nations that provide oil to Cuba. The bloc’s language characterizes the measures as economic warfare and a driver of suffering for Cuban civilians, and leaders have called for relief.

Persad-Bissessar has taken a different tack: while saying she empathizes with the Cuban people, she argued they live without freedom and described Cuba’s leadership as dictatorial. She also suggested it is contradictory for democratic CARICOM states to advocate on Cuba’s behalf while rejecting such a political model at home, a framing likely to resonate with some constituencies, but one that risks splintering CARICOM’s messaging by shifting the focus from humanitarian relief to regime legitimacy.

Why it matters (news assessment):

This meeting is shaping up as more than a ceremonial milestone. The immediate question is whether CARICOM can preserve a coherent external voice when one member state publicly disparages the bloc and pursues security and diplomatic positions that others view as destabilizing or out of step with regional norms. The longer-term risk is that public disputes and perceived external pressure points (visa/travel restrictions) accelerate a drift toward unilateralism, leaving CARICOM weaker precisely as global competition and hemispheric security tensions intensify.

Reporting plan / What to watch:

• Summit communiqué language for signs of fracture: diluted phrasing, omissions, or formal reservations.
• On-record reaction from CARICOM Secretariat and at least three member states (one OECS; one larger state such as Jamaica/Barbados; one mainland member such as Guyana/Belize).
• Clarification from Trinidad and Tobago’s government on whether its stance is tactical (security cooperation) or strategic (recasting CARICOM as a less central partner).

Sarge

Kamla is incompetent

That is a given, and carries a truckload of evidence to support her ineffectiveness as a leader to anything beyond the baying WeTimeNow crew.

Kamla’s stance on Cuba is a curious one. Where was Kamla ‘on Cuba’ before now? Seems like Rubio sending talking points and this coward lady signing direck from d sheet.

sheet leader

@sgtdjones

Tell her to withdraw from Caricom then.

@Halliwell

Based on political commentary and reported remarks surrounding Trinidad and Tobago parliamentary politics, the phrase "it's we time now" has been associated with Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis, a Member of Parliament for the People's National Movement (PNM)

See how foolish you look when you quote incorrectly...with some in UNC opposition questioning the implication of these remarks. 

That is a given, and carries a truckload of evidence to support her ineffectiveness as a leader to anything beyond the baying WeTimeNow crew.

You paint with a wide brush; when asked to refute or provide facts, you run...provide the truckload of evidence stated above? You are sounding like the opposition in Parliament, moaning and gnashing their teeth about everything they created and administered in the past decade.

She wrote to the CARICOM secretariat as a member of the T&T Parliament in 2022 and asked questions about the kidnapping of a T&T citizen in Barbados. Never got a response. Is such being incompetent?

Sheet leader, you must be talking about that idiot Rowley after 10 years of leadership.

@WI_cricfan

How many of these doofuses in the Caribbean supported her when she noted if Venezuela invades Guyana, she would let the US use T&T bases to defend Guyana?

CARICOM became silent.

Trinidad and Tobago is the leading supporter and a major funding contributor to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). 

Key details regarding funding and financial influence:

Leading Funder: Trinidad and Tobago has historically been a, if not the, primary supporter of the community, also hosting several key CARICOM institutions, including the Caribbean Court of Justice and the CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS).

Get Ali to pick up the cost?

@sgtdjones

Can’t have it both ways

You and your pardner talk about 50 of PNM and behave like UNC first dance is now

TT historically supported CARICOM

somebody didn’t like their hard earned money going to some small island black people

and coined the phrase ‘ATM of the Caribbean’

now break away in principle

as the guy said, let Kamla withdraw TT from CARICOM and the WI team while you at it

sorry Ravi will get another wuk

Washington Post:

Sheet leader singing for a future supper from a con man

Rubio held two bilateral meetings while at the summit: one with St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew and the other with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

@Halliwell

Rubio held two bilateral meetings while at the summit: one with St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew and the other with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Prime Minister Terrance Drew and the other with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. But only the T&T PM sang for her supper...huh? You must have been present to be aware of such minute details... Your logic is impeccable.

Were you also present with Rowley when the notation "the Calcutta ship is coming to Tobago" was made? But such a comment is about Indians, so who cares?

somebody didn’t like their hard earned money going to some small island black people

But the PM said the above in your presence?

Did she build a wall so Manning wouldn't show dignitaries how poor the Black people were when driving by on the Beetham to such summits?

Oh, could it be she wanted to provide basic services, water, electricity, and roads after 57 years of your party's neglect, i.e., Laventille, Sealots, Beetham Gardens, La Brea, etc.?

You are not aware these poor blacks still live in dilapidated shacks, as in the days of Eric Williams. Nawwww, they survive by searching the La Basse garbage dump

Did you comment when, after the summits, Manning shipped an expensive vehicle to the land where some small island of Black people reside for the PM? Nawwwwww!!!

Sheet leader: Since you have been around Rowley for over a decade, you are familiar with such terms, as he proved by leading T&T.

You are proving the notion of posters' reading and assimilation ability on this site is ubiquitous by your response above.

Show intelligence in your rebuttal, not BS without facts, or run!!!!

Sarge ghostwriter.

Manning and Rowley and crew used racially charged language to rile up their base

that’s facts

@Halliwell

The topic is Challenges to CARICOM....

Do you read your diatribe before posting?

I can destroy you easily with the irrelevant rebuttals you submit.

Notice, I don't fall for your metaphors or ambuscade?

Don't view them as intelligent; thus, I destroy them.

@sgtdjones

What is ambuscade. Learn me so I can start using that word.

you still supporting the nonsense from Tanty Kamla?

@Halliwell

Ask your sheet leader, Rowley...?

Your responses are idiotic and filled with obfuscation.

Have a good day.

If the responses are over your head just say so. No shame in dat.

@Halliwell

Calling your response “over my head” is adorable, like watching someone trip over a painted line and blame gravity. It’s not over my head; it’s just not worth bending down to pick up.

I kept waiting for an actual point, but you just kept circling the topic like empty space junk, making noise, taking up room, and contributing absolutely nothing to the mission.

You don’t have rebuttals. You have awkward little gaps where reasoning is supposed to live.

@sgtdjones

That phrasing is so transparent. Come on. In 2026 I would hope that LLMs can vary their prose. Maybe the tools are used by or fed by mostly Americans who feel that juxtaposing of language is somehow cool.

what’s YOUR reply?

@sgtdjones

@sgtdjones

Trinidad and Tobago is the leading supporter and a major funding contributor to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). 

Then maybe its time for Trinidad to withdraw from Caricom if you feel the rest of us are a burden. Wouldn't want to drain your ATM.

Personally i would be grateful to be unburdened by the longstanding Common External Tariff that really benefits only Trinidad. Let's see how Charles Chocolates competes with Cadbury when they got to pay the same duties. Lets see how Berger Paints fares when it has to pay the same 35 to 50% duties that non-Caricom suppliers have to pay, or how Bermudez, Holiday Snacks, Blue Waters fares against better quality international competitors when they dont have that 20% protection. TCL would not sell another bag of cement in Barbados if the External 60% tariff on Non-Caricom cement was removed.

Cost of living would go down in Barbados overnight and quality of life (because most of your products are inferior to international substitutes) would go up

Instead we have to put with this shit from you and your loony PM. Go away ......please

@Halliwell

That phrasing is so transparent. Come on. In 2026 I would hope that LLMs can vary their prose

You don’t have rebuttals. You have awkward little gaps where avowal is supposed to live.

You have made numerous allegations...when asked for proof, you fail to provide any to date...but carry on; it's normal for those born in the Caribbean.

@Logic

Then maybe it's time for Trinidad to withdraw from Caricom if you feel the rest of us are a burden. Wouldn't want to drain your ATM.

Can you note where I said the above? T&T has numerous problems left by a political entity that ruled for over 50 years. Its strongholds, since the days of Eric Williams, 63 years later, still exist in squalor, lacking basic necessities and poverty. In the last decade, its HSF was squandered, leaving less than 6 months of cover. The T&T PM and cabinet decided to focus on such areas of poverty.

Berger Paints has announced its leaving Barbados. Now you can purchase Brits products.

So if T&T products have advantages over the US or Brits, they pay duties. Can you explain your logic of how such will unburden Barbados as you personally wish? You prefer something to be more expensive?...

TCL is owned by a Mexican company via its subsidiary, Sierra Trading; it has been phasing down its operation in T&T.

The cost of living would go down in Barbados overnight, and quality of life would improve.

How can such occur since you claim foreign entities will supply better products with duties? Would it not cost more?

TT entities bought Barbados companies and made them more efficient, employing locals and paying taxes.

Such is helpful to your economy. Can you use your logic and say why Trinidad and Tobago is a major, and arguably the largest, trading partner and investor for Barbados? Companies from T&T often engage in regional distribution agreements, making them deeply embedded in the Barbadian commercial landscape and economy. Significant investment exists, particularly in the energy, financial, and manufacturing sectors.

Get your redlegs to buy out all T&T entities in Barbados...so you can be happy.

@sgtdjones

Berger Paints has announced its leaving Barbados. Now you can purchase Brits products.

I was speaking to the situation that would accrue now that Berger Paints has left.

But just as with TCL when it was Trinidad owned and had a manufacturing operation in Barbados they would contrive to sell product manufactured in Barbados to the Barbados market at a higher price than sold to the rest of the Caribbean, effectively using Barbados as the ATM. Now Berger has closed operations in Barbados sending home a host of people without first consulting with the unions. You will now sell the paint to us under the protection of the CET and then want to turn around and tell us we are a burden on you. Go to hell

@sgtdjones

How can such occur since you claim foreign entities will supply better products with duties? Would it not cost more?

Are you thick. The CET pushes up the cost on non-Caricom products. If the CET dictated that a non-Caricom product had a 40% tariff then without CET the the tariff could be removed, making it cheaper, or increased on the TnT product making the foreign product (which by the way could come from Latin America, Asia, Africa or the rest of Europe, not just England and USA...you clown) more competitive.

Barbados has a general and financial services based economy. The tariff largely hurts rather than helps us. It is particularly injurious to our tourism industry where high costs are prohibitve for some markets

@Logic

Berger Paints Barbados to close all sites on April 24

Berger Paints Barbados Ltd. will begin winding down its manufacturing and site operations, with all sites closing on April 24. “This action has become necessary due to sustained changes in the operating environment, including the impact of Article 164, which has affected the long-term viability of local manufacturing operations for Berger Paints Barbados,” the release stated.

The company noted that it recognized that “this transition has a real and personal impact on our employees and their families." ”.

“The company is committed to handling this process in a way that is fair, respectful, and centred on its people,” it stated. It continued: “A formal consultation process commences next week. This process is designed to ensure that employees are engaged directly, given time to ask questions, and supported through every step of the transition.”

Beyond the regulatory requirements, Berger Paints Barbados stated that it is providing additional support to its employees, such as

• All Berger Paints Barbados employees will continue to have access to the ANSA McAL Group’s Employee Assistance Programme, which includes well-being support services and financial planning assistance.

• Financial counselling sessions are also being scheduled for employees.

Article 164 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (CARICOM) is a provision within the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) framework designed to promote industrial development in the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) of CARICOM (specifically OECS countries and Belize)

Your government signed the above agreement; why complain? 🤔

@sgtdjones

TT entities bought Barbados companies and made them more efficient, employing locals and paying taxes.

You have largely invested in the low risk distributive sector where right now you are doing a good job of using your oil dollars, associated low energy costs and ironically the wealth gained from the same CET protection to squeeze out competition, incidentally coming from smaller black businesses.

The whites were happy to sell to you rather than to risk transferring wealth and know how to black Barbadians and you were happy to intercede.

I reject any suggestion that you have improved efficiency. In fact our landscape is dotted with incompetent managers who are only managers BECAUSE they are Trini.

Unfortunately our leaders in government brought up on the idealistic Federation dream cant see past the next election. They are prepared to take the shortfall fallout of casting out your ATM for the long term gain of realignment.

Meantime you sick PM aligns her country with the current fascists in the USA who would (in)discriminately bomb/murder Caribbean peoples on the high seas, pretending to care about the drug trade

@Logic

You have largely invested in the low risk distributive sector where right now you are doing a good job of using your oil dollars, associated low energy costs and ironically the wealth gained from the same CET protection to squeeze out competition

Such can't be permitted without your government approval...can it?

The whites were happy to sell to you rather than to risk transferring wealth and know how to black Barbadians and you were happy to intercede.

And Mia permits such...wow, I would tar and feather her. That's treason!!!

I love your diatribe and agony towards T&T.

Such only exist when a group of citizens are doing something positive.

I reject any suggestion that you have improved efficiency. In fact our landscape is dotted with incompetent managers who are only managers BECAUSE they are Trini.

If such occurred, you wouldn't have a surplus. Gosh, those Trinis should be deported. Don't you think?

Unfortunately our leaders in government, brought up on the idealistic Federation dream, can't see past the next election.

Such appears when the electorate warrants it...

Meantime, you sick PM aligns her country with the current fascists in the USA

You don't understand the criminal elements in T&T; guns and drugs are coming owing to our close proximity to South America. T&T cannot solve such a problem alone, so she seeks help. Over 5,000 have died, with over 80% being young African males.

I am glad she is sick and making a dent in such crime.

Sarge

@sgtdjones

Such can't be permitted without your government approval...can it?

Somewhere in my responses i did blame succcessive Barbadian governments for their idealistic commitment to Caricom. You lock up our fishermen for fishing for flying fish that you use as bait while we eschew all protections from your engagement in our commerce

Years ago.when i lived in Antigua supermarket shopping was a treat because i could get all manner of non Caricom goods at reasonable prices. Back then Antigua was giving only lip service to Caricom treaties. Barbados has always abided by the rules.... to our detriment.

As to your PM being concerned about crime i find it telling that she has no qualms about the US summarily executing fishermen at sea but can make such a public strop about the "kidnapping" by a fellow Caricom governement of a gun dealer

@sgtdjones

Trinidad and Tobago is the leading supporter and a major funding contributor to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

You keep on making this claim. How much has TNT funded Caricom? How much under the UNC government? You also forgot that TNT has a lopsided 1.2b trade surplus with Caricom. If Caricom should chose to place tariffs on their goods or boycott them do you think America want allyuh Sunshine snacks and Busta?

Dr.Eric Williams rolling in his grave with this PM as leader.

@Logic

As to your PM being concerned about crime i find it telling that she has no qualms about the US summarily executing fishermen at sea but can make such a public strop about the "kidnapping" by a fellow Caricom governement of a gun dealer

Not only that but she aided and abetted America in the audacious kidnapping of the Venezuelan President Maduro. Where was the legal due process in that regard?

@voiceofreason

When Rowley was PM, there were various CARICOM conferences in T&T.

One celebrating 50 years cost over 6 million dollars borne by T&T taxpayers.

What did such achieve?

There were other security conferences in T&T in 2025.

Now, why do the various PMs claim "it's an area of peace"?

when the US patrolled the Caribbean Sea.

They are now leaving. How has it affected such islands?

How have CARICOM meetings reduced guns and crime?

It didn't; it was just a party at T&T's expense to eat food.

Sarge

Williams is classified as the PM that divided the races in T&T. He subjected his African base, leaving them without opportunities; he afforded the Lebanese and Syrians with opportunities. Today they control the T&T economy.

William's strongholds are still living without employment and basic amenities as when he was in power in the 1960s. He treated them with disdain when they protested in the Black Power marches and arrested them.

Under Rowley, little changed; over 5000 murders were committed, and over 75% were young African youths that perished. After a decade of lacklustre leadership by Rowley, the electorate wanted change.

@voiceofreason

Not only that but she aided and abetted America in the audacious kidnapping of the Venezuelan President Maduro. Where was the legal due process in that regard?

T&T Fishing boats

They are wooden boats, not with four high-powered engines.

Large packages of Colombian marijuana and cocaine are discovered in T&T by the police. How did they get here?

a public strop about the "kidnapping" by a fellow Caricom governement of a gun dealer

His license was to sell arms to the Security Forces in T&T. I wrote what was done to him, a man who had permission to travel to see his heart doctor. Grabbed at 3am and kept in a cage in the hot sun till midday and without a warrant. Then flown back to T&T on an RSS (Regional Security Services) plane.

Rowley's and Mia's governments knew about this illegal arrest...both attorneys general are trying to settle out of court with taxpayers' money.

Justice Rampersad delivered findings in favour of Thomas, including what he called an “unlawful abduction” from Barbados.

“Unlawful abduction” refers to the illegal, forced, or fraudulent taking and carrying away of a person against their will. It is a serious criminal offence—often synonymous with or a component of "kidnapping",where the victim is deprived of their liberty without any legal justification or authority.

Attorney General Reginald Armour has apologised to the Barbadian government and the Royal Barbados Police Force for the slur cast on that island’s police force, following its assistance to the T&T Police Service in seeking to bring Brent Thomas to justice.

@Logic

why are you trying so hard to engage in a sensible argument with an idiot?

.....

Sodden owing to the fact you were not around and busy weeping after Mia's rass kicking.😂