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PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar says TT fully supports the US government's deployment of military assets to destroy terrorist drug cartels operating in the southern region.
Her comments came on the eve of the arrival in southern Caribbean waters of three US naval destroyers and a nuclear submarine.
The deployment would see the arrival of more than 4,000 marines and sailors as part of an exercise to target drug cartels.
She said the US has made no request for its military assets to use TT for any military action against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.
But Persad-Bissessar warned the Venezuelan government that TT would be prepared to give the US access to its territory should Venezuela invade Guyana.
In a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister on August 23, Persad-Bissessar said, "The only persons who should be worried about the activity of the US military are those engaged in or enabling criminal activity. Law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear."
Government, she continued, has not engaged Caricom on this matter and does not intend to do so.
"Each member state can speak for themselves on this issue."
In the past, Caricom has maintained a non-interference stance and declared the region a zone of peace.
TT holds the national security portfolio in Caricom's quasi-cabinet.
She said, "The US government's deployment of American military assets into the Caribbean region to destroy the terrorist drug cartels has the full support of the government of TT."
Persad-Bissessar attributed massive spikes in transnational crime, gang activity, murders, violence, and financial crimes in TT and other Caribbean countries to drug, human, and firearms trafficking.
"Most Caribbean countries, and in particular TT, have been dealing with out-of-control crime for the last 20 years. Small island states like ours simply do not have the financial and military resources to take on the drug cartels. "
Persad-Bissessar said cartels have been enabled to embed themselves into the high echelons of Caribbean societies.
She claimed this has allowed them to exhibit "significant influence in political, legislative, media, banking, security, and economic decisions, often rendering governments toothless to enact actual change to stop criminal activity."
Persad-Bissessar said, "Therefore, it is shocking to hear some persons using referrals to the Caribbean region as a zone of peace to push negative commentary on the US military deployment against these terrorist cartels."
She added, "Despite the misinformation being peddled, the US military is operating legally in international waters within the region and has not breached any nation's sovereignty.
She said TT and Venezuela continue to maintain strong bilateral ties.
But Persad-Bissessar warned, "I want to make it very clear that if the Maduro regime launches any attack against the Guyanese people or invades Guyanese territory and a request is made by the American government for access to Trinidadian territory to defend the people of Guyana, my government will unflinchingly provide them that access."
She said, "May good sense and peace prevail."
In a statement on CNC3 on August 22, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers said TT was taking no sides in the US-Venezuela stand-off and the US has not asked to use TT as a base for military operations.
In December 2024, TT and the US signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which allows military-to-military engagement between the countries.
The US has claimed that Maduro's government is one of narco-traffickers and illegitimate.
The US has also offered a US$50 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Maduro.
Maduro has vowed to deploy 4.5 million militia members across Venezuela in response to the US naval deployment.
In a Facebook post on August 22, former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley said, "We hope that, given our nation and Caricom's commitment to our region being defended as a zone of peace, that our leaders will not be found wanting."
Former prime minister Stuart Young said TT has, for good reason, consistently respected and upheld the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
"I trust that our allies will also respect and uphold these principles.”
At a political rally in Guyana on August 22, Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said rising US-Venezuela military tension could destabilise the region and challenge the country's sovereignty.
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