Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s Courage Exposes CARICOM’s Cowardice

When Kamla Persad-Bissessar spoke on August 24, she didn’t mince words. She said plain and clear that if Venezuela, under the Maduro regime, dared to attack Guyana, and the United States asked for Trinidad and Tobago’s help to defend the Guyanese people, her government would provide it—without hesitation.

That was leadership. That was fire. That was a voice refusing to dance around reality while others hid behind meaningless slogans.

For years, Persad-Bissessar has watched her nation bleed from the wounds of crime, narcotics, and corruption—poisoned by the very trade routes that wind through our Caribbean waters. Drugs and guns flow freely. Gangs multiply. Human lives are trafficked like merchandise. And what has CARICOM done? Hold meetings. Issue statements. Smile for photo ops. Pretend all is well under the sun.

The truth is bitter: CARICOM has become a museum of inaction, a monument to bureaucratic comfort. Its leaders are content to recite soft words about “peace” while Trinidad and Tobago lives in a daily war zone of violence and fear. They boast of a “zone of peace,” yet they couldn’t recognize peace if it knocked on their door and offered a diplomatic handshake.

When Persad-Bissessar took a stand—to support U.S. drug interdiction efforts, to expose Venezuela’s destabilizing influence, to say enough—her regional colleagues turned on her. Not one praised her courage. Not one offered support. Instead, they gossiped about her “breaking ranks,” whispering that her stance cost Trinidad and Tobago its chance to represent the region on the UN Security Council.

Let’s be honest—what has that seat ever done for CARICOM? What has the UN done for a region drowning in crime and inequality while global powers look the other way? Not a thing. CARICOM’s precious “unity” has achieved little beyond self-congratulation. Unity means nothing if it shackles leaders to silence.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar could have joined the charade. She could have smiled, nodded, and made empty speeches about “regional solidarity.” But she refused. Instead, she chose the harder path—the lonely one. The path where real leaders walk.

CARICOM’s leaders have forgotten what the weight of responsibility feels like. They forget that peace is not declared; it is defended. It is protected by those willing to make unpopular choices.

Persad-Bissessar’s message was a strike of lightning across a dark sky: Trinidad and Tobago is not living in a zone of peace. It is living under siege—and pretending otherwise does not make it safer. Her critics can cling to their comfort. She chose conviction.

And maybe that’s what upsets them most: that one woman had the courage to say what the rest would rather bury beneath polite silence.

Sarge...

I am back after 3 weeks in the Far East...

A friend of none a satellite of one

@sudden

"the lonely one. The path where real leaders walk."

Who needs those cowards as friends...T&T can go alone without out that useless fcking CARICOM. 😡 😡

She has more balls than the rest of WI leaders! Full facting stop. 😎

When Kamla said ATM she had a problem with helping out other Caribbean nations.

And now in round 2, or is it roundtree, she is again giving them a cold shoulder.

i have my theories why she iz doing this. And those in her circles speak loudly. One thing someone can’t accuse Kamla of is being colour blind.

i have my theories why she iz doing this.

When did she deny a CARICOM country help?

What has CARICOM achieved since its establishment, and what is the cold shoulder? telling CARICOM her position is a cold shoulder?

Saying if Venezuela attacks Guyana, the US can use T&T bases?

Is attempting to lower crime and fatalities in T&T a loud cry?

Just post such theories and educate us instead of the diatribe above

@sgtdjones

De same US gonna soon turn pon her .

@sgtdjones

You sound like a Trump now

UN bad, Climate change agreement bad, who has even done anything for us

put aside the Indian pride for a sec, and look at this objectively

..........

Where did I note Indian pride? I don't vote T&T elections.

You did not respond to the questions I posed above.

Another obfuscation and useless diatribe...

@sgtdjones

I am hearing there is a coup in the UNC....lead by Dr Roodal

Is this your theories halliwell?

Kamla has spent her early days in office emphasizing “what she found” ,the empty coffers, the debt, the scandal. Fair enough, the public should know  

We now know that the previous PNM administration’s legacy isn’t measured in development, but in the deep shadow of corruption it left behind. Cabinet members recusing themselves over 650 times , usually to enable deals benefiting family, friends, and financiers ; isn’t governance; it’s systemic abuse. Millions in state contracts flowed to companies linked to sitting ministers and political insiders. A former HDC managing director allegedly fast-tracked payments before the last election, ensuring that $11.2 million in contracts went to politically connected firms.

The misconduct didn’t stop at the housing sector. CEPEP, long criticized for being a political slush fund, reportedly paid out up to $1.4 billion to companies with political ties. Even elected officials were allegedly among the beneficiaries — including an MP who took home millions in contracts. This is not just corruption at the margins; it’s corruption as public policy.And so, Kamla now faces a country technically bankrupt ; but rich in scandal. The question is what she can do about it.

The previous People’s National Movement (PNM) administration was connected to the collection of millions of dollars in rental from the State, at a commercial rate for property which was approved for residential use.

A “politically connected landlord”, that a managing director at the HDC had picked out contracts for payment before the April 2025 general election.

$11.2 million was paid out to contracts from companies connected to former ministers and political figures.

Members of the previous government had recused themselves from the Cabinet some 652 times, each time in order to facilitate benefits to family, friends, and financiers.

A “certain powerful former PNM minister” who was a senator and a “big boy” was among those connected to payments through HDC which were selected. He said Pical Services Ltd was paid $6,367,000, the Rivulet Investment Company was paid some $2.8 million, and Sure Services Ltd was paid $2.04 million.

The board of directors at CEPEP was “duped” into authorizing payments to companies with political connections, citing up to $1.4 billion. He claimed a former mayor of Point Fortin had benefited from contracts up to $2 million.

Laventille West MP Kareem Marcelle had benefited up to $2.7 million from CEPEP contracts.

​CEPEG contractors paid government ministers monies monthly.

The previous administration left behind a state drained of money, trust, and credibility. If Persad-Bissessar’s government now chooses the same path; if it becomes another caretaker of corruption ; Trinidad and Tobago will run out of more than food reserves.

It’ll run out of faith in leadership itself. So yes, the PNM left behind a politician’s paradise and a citizen’s nightmare. But whining about the previous government’s sins, without acting decisively to prosecute or reform them, will only confirm what many fear: that every administration sings the same song, just in a different key.

Kamla has a rare window to prove that this time is different. But she will have to stop describing the corruption — and start destroying it.

But you criticize the PM as a whiner but nothing about the above?

Sarge

I support Kamla on this...Caricom has not done much when it comes to Venezuela rattling their swords at Guyana

@sgtdjones

Going under the US umbrella is not going it alone. Its giving up your sovereignity. Venezuela may have done some sabre rattling but US history is replete with invasion of sovereign states, overthrow of elected governments and extra-judicial assasinations. Kamla has now opened the Caribbean's front doors to this

@sgtdjones

Is the minister of homeland security a comedian?

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe"

This thread is confirmation of the veracity of the above!!!!!!!!!