The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, just threw some serious shade at CARICOM. She flat-out said the regional group will not decide her country's future and is not a reliable partner. Her big issue is the bloc criticizing the United States while backing Venezuela's government under Nicolas Maduro, whom she called a narcotics-linked dictator. She pointed out new U.S. travel restrictions targeting citizenship by investment programs in places like Antigua and Dominica.
She made it clear her government was not part of a recent CARICOM statement that worried about those U.S. rules. Persad-Bissessar said every sovereign nation, including the U.S., has a right to act in its own interest. She thinks CARICOM has deep internal problems like bad management and leader infighting, hiding behind a fake show of unity. She warned that the whole organization could implode from its own dysfunction.
Her comments came after the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, also criticized CARICOM's leadership. He said they issued a useless statement about the U.S. visa issue even after he told them it was resolved, calling out their inertia and lukewarm support. Persad-Bissessar finished by promising her citizens she will always put Trinidad and Tobago first, warning that there are consequences for supporting the Maduro regime.
She made it clear her government was not part of a recent CARICOM statement that worried about those U.S. rules. Persad-Bissessar said every sovereign nation, including the U.S., has a right to act in its own interest. She thinks CARICOM has deep internal problems like bad management and leader infighting, hiding behind a fake show of unity. She warned that the whole organization could implode from its own dysfunction.
Her comments came after the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, also criticized CARICOM's leadership. He said they issued a useless statement about the U.S. visa issue even after he told them it was resolved, calling out their inertia and lukewarm support. Persad-Bissessar finished by promising her citizens she will always put Trinidad and Tobago first, warning that there are consequences for supporting the Maduro regime.
