Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Richard Kelshall has made clear his full support for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s backing of recent US military activity in the southern Caribbean.
The operation, which took place in international waters last Tuesday, resulted in the destruction of a vessel allegedly operated by the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua gang. According to US officials, the boat was transporting narcotics destined for Trinidad and Tobago. Eleven individuals were reportedly killed in the strike.
Following the action at sea, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar praised the mission, saying “the pain and suffering the cartels have inflicted on our nation is immense.”
In an exclusive interview with TTT News on Wednesday, Admiral Kelshall, who served as second-in-command of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard during the 1970 mutiny and played a key role in containing the threat, described Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar’s stance as principled and necessary in the ongoing fight against transnational organised crime.
“The fact that the United States of America has seen this and has deemed it fit to act, and Trinidad’s name has been called in Washington and all over the world as where the drugs are headed for. These people deal in narcotics. Where they’re narcotics, they’re guns. Where they’re guns, they’re terrorists. And when the three get together, there’s mayhem. And I think the Prime Minister, quite rightly, has seen the danger there. And there’s no place to be nice here. You have to call a spade a spade and call it what it is. We’re fighting a dangerous situation. In fact, right now, Trinidad and Tobago is a country under siege. People can’t feel safe coming out of their houses. You can’t feel safe walking in the road. These young gang members are shooting people in broad daylight without masks. And who knows what the influence is coming across the water from Venezuela.”
The Rear Admiral noted that this is not the first time that the United States and other international partners have stepped in to help.
“It has always been that America has stepped in to help us when we were in trouble. And as far as blood thirst and a lust for blood, thirty-something years ago, I used to deal with the generals in Venezuela about drug smuggling and whatnot and they cautioned me several times that any vessel from Trinidad that didn’t carry a flag or had a registered number, they would burn down. Those are the words they use. Without doubt, America has rules and international laws about piracy and stateless vessels and America is very right in doing what it’s doing. And we need the help. There’s no doubt about that.”
Admiral Kelshall told TTT News that there are core lessons today’s military and political leaders should take and apply to the challenges the country now faces.
“You have to take immediate steps. We, I think, Trinidad and Tobago hasn’t yet realised the dangers facing it and the bad situation that we’re in. And we have a new democratically elected Prime Minister who is bold, who is prepared to tell it like it is, and call a spade a spade. And the nation ought to get together behind her and follow her to fight this thing. It will need everybody, every citizen in the country. If you see something, say something. We need help. Trinidad needs help.”
Watch the full interview below: