Tag: gaston browne

The Trump administration’s build-up of warships near Venezuela, its recently imposed visa restrictions on two island-nations and the decisions by some countries to grant the U.S. military access to their territories have brought tensions in the Caribbean to a new high.

One of the U.S. military campaign’s staunchest supporters, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, is accusing two fellow Caribbean leaders of triggering visa restrictions for their citizens by “bad-mouthing the U.S.” over American strikes on vessels in the southern Caribbean. The U.S. military build up, which began in September and has since expanded to the eastern Pacific, has led to the deaths of at least 104 people Washington says were drug traffickers.

“Why are you badmouthing the people? You want to go to the people’s country, but you want to badmouth them. Isn’t that hypocrisy?” Persad-Bissessar said from Port-of-Spain Friday as she warned her 1.5 million residents to “behave.”

More than 250,000 Trinidadians and Toboggans live in the United States, she said, while over 300,000 hold U.S. visas. “Careful you don’t end up like Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, who bad-mouthed the U.S. and guess what happened? All their visas are restricted now. They’ve cut their visas.”

Her comments drew an immediate rebuke from Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who said in a Facebook post that after being informed “that one of our colleague heads, instead of standing in solidarity, publicly accused us of cursing the U.S. administration,” he challenged “that leader to back her statement with facts.”

Both countries are part of the 15-member Caribbean Community regional bloc known as CARICOM, which has been divided over the Trump administration’s buildup in the Southern Caribbean, whose legality has been questioned by U.S. lawmakers amid the president’s escalating pressure campaign against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Late Saturday, Persad-Bissessar accused CARICOM of not being “a reliable partner.” The organization “is deteriorating rapidly due to poor management, lax accountability, factional divisions, destabilizing policies, private conflicts between regional leaders and political parties and the inappropriate meddling in the domestic politics of member states,” she said.

Partial travel ban

Last week Antjgua and Dominica, both located in the eastern Caribbean, were placed under a restricted travel ban by the Trump administration, which cited their Citizenship by Investment programs, saying their lack of residency requirements pose challenges for screening and vetting.

Sometimes referred to as a “golden passport,” the program is offered in five of the six independent Caribbean countries that make up the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and allows foreigners to gain a second citizenship in exchange for making an economic investment in the countries.

The governments of Antigua and Dominica both immediately expressed concerns over the decision. Antigua said that it had previously amended its laws to address the residency requirement.

In separate statements on Friday, Antiguan Prime Minister Browne and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said their nations had been removed from the list of 15 newly announced countries. However, a State Department spokesperson responding to an inquiry from the Miami Herald on Saturday said both countries are still on the visa restriction list.

The measure goes into effect on Jan. 1.

CARICOM demands clarity

Amid the confusion, CARICOM leaders are asking for clarity from U.S. officials and urged “an early engagement” with the affected Caribbean countries “to address outstanding concerns, consistent with the strong and longstanding partnership between the United States of America and CARICOM.”

In a statement issued late Friday, the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, also stressed that the “decision was taken without prior consultation, especially in circumstances of its potential adverse effects on legitimate travel, people-to-people exchanges, and the social and economic well-being of these small states.”

In response, Persad-Bissessar sais Saturday that “the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is not a party to the statement,” and “maintains its own position on the matter and recognizes the sovereign right of the United States to make decision in furtherance of its best interests.”

Browne told the Miami Herald that in January, the U.S. plans to hold biometrics training to assist island-nations to strength their capacity to stop criminals from accessing their Citizenship by Investment Program.

Persad-Bissessar said that’s not why Washington singled out two of the five Caribbean countries that offer the golden passports.

A radar, a warning from Trinidad’s prime minister

Amid the brewing tensions, Trinidad’s Foreign Ministry announced it would allow the U.S. military access to its airports after Persad-Bissessar acknowledged that the oil-rich country had also agreed to let the U.S install a radar in Tobago. She claimed that the installation is part of the U.S. efforts to go after drug smugglers.

Trinidad is only seven miles from Venezuela. Browne and other leaders have said the Caribbean should remain a zone of peace amid the conflict and have spoken out about unintended consequences of the U.S. military strikes.

During her address on Friday, Persad-Bissessar told Trinidadians not to “worry” about the radar or Venezuela.

“I say it again, I stand within the bilateral relationship with the United States of America,” she said.

“Understand where our help comes from. Understand who can protect and defend Trinidad and Tobago. Right now, there is only one country in the world can do it. They have the money. They have the equipment. They have the assets,” she said. “Trinidad and Tobago first.”