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THE EDITOR: The US is flexing its military muscle by sending several warships into our Caribbean Sea, citing the fight against drug trafficking as its reason. Washington blames Venezuela, particularly President Nicolás Maduro, for allegedly "conspiring with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to flood the US with narcotics".
PM Persad-Bissessar has disregarded Caricom, saying that she will not consult them. Therefore, what is the purpose of Caricom if not to unanimously agree on regional risks or unified responses to common threats? Martin Luther King taught us to “stand together as brothers or perish as fools."
Before engaging in war or threatening the sovereignty of independent nations, shouldn't our Big Brother first consider the following:
1. Rather than invading and occupying the territory of Sovereign nations, shouldn't the US close and properly man their own borders? The technology exists to track and find transport vessels —AI, satellites, and radars could track the movement of these drugs.
2. Who are the importers into the US? Shouldn't the US also place bounties on its resident mafia, who are facilitating the movement of these drugs into and throughout the US?
3. Why only target Venezuela? Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia are major cocaine producers, with the Caribbean actively involved as the major trans-shipment hub and financial centre for the world’s cocaine trade. Trinidad, at the centre, has its borders wide open, with little or no Coast Guard presence. Countless vessels slip in and out daily. How come the US isn’t pressuring Trinidad for facilitating this drug trade through our own porous borders?
4. If the demand is quashed, then there will be little need for supply. The US has the highest per capita drug consumption/addiction on planet earth. The focus should also be on rehabilitating their addicts instead of waging selective wars on oil-rich nations.
5. Why isn’t the US consulting and negotiating with the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, or even under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to address global drug trafficking? Why act unilaterally and selectively? Why is international law invoked when convenient?
When the world’s largest oil reserves are at stake, the US conveniently intervenes. Poor nations, like ours, that suffer from drugs, open borders, corruption, and poverty, will become collateral damage in a convenient war for oil disguised as drugs. Who is going to save us?
The Caribbean must open its eyes and unify. We must seek the support and partnership of the US and strengthen our surveillance and interdiction capacities. We must properly equip our protective services with efficient radars and with fast patrol vessels managed by seasoned seamen. Together and in a strong partnership with the US and Caricom must defeat this global drug scourge that is destroying minds, crippling families, and weakening our societies.
GARY ABOUD
Corporate Secretary
Fishermen and Friends of the Sea
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