Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar tells the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Caribbean is not a zone of peace.
Mrs. Persad-Bissessar in her address, re-iterated her government’s support for the military action by the United States in the Southern Caribbean to combat drug cartels.
“I state today that Trinidad and Tobago reminds the international community that unless forceful and aggressive actions are taken, these evil drug cartels will continue their societal destruction. Because they believe affected nations will always unreservedly subscribe to morals and ethics and human rights and values, which they themselves blatantly flout. They do not adhere to those. And therefore, we will fight fire with fire within the law.”
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on the International stage, firmly stating her policy on US Military action in the Caribbean against drug cartels.,
Mrs. Persad-Bissessar emphasised the notion that the Caribbean is a zone of peace is a false ideal.
“Illegal migration of drug cartels and criminal gangs have been rerouted into eastern Caribbean, which is where my country is located. It is driving increasing gang violence, drug arms, and human trafficking. Efforts to repatriate illegal immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago from recent times has proven very difficult. Criminal syndicates are abusing asylum requests for refugee status. Therefore, Trinidad and Tobago is particularly grateful for the U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean.”
To bring her point home, the Prime Minister gave homicide statistics in Trinidad and Tobago and the Latin American region.
“In the last 25 years, we have had over 10,000 murders, which is equivalent to losing 1 percent of our adult population. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, homicides range from 20 to more than 60 per 100,000. President Trump’s comments on the effects on countries of relentless narco and human trafficking, about organised crime, illegal immigration, are correct.”
Mrs. Persad-Bissessar used Haiti as an example of what could happen if criminal gangs are left unchecked.
“Nowhere is this warning more explicit than in Haiti, our CARICOM neighbour, where armed gangs, political collapse, food insecurity have converged to overwhelm democracy and to create a protracted emergency.”
She commended Kenya for leading the multinational security support mission in Haiti. And pledged support for action by the United States and Panama to return peace to Haiti.
“As member states consider the form of greatest support, as we urge the international community to support us, to support the United States, to support Panama’s proposed gang suppression force to allow the deployment of 5,500 member force to subdue the gangs and restore order in Haiti.”
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar also announced that Trinidad and Tobago has sought support to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2028 term, to which there was no objection.