In a striking address at the CARICOM Summit opening in St. Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar delivered a severe condemnation of the regional body’s operational integrity and political impartiality. The veteran leader revealed that her formal communication regarding the 2022 coordinated kidnapping of a Trinidadian citizen from another member state—a incident validated by her nation’s Supreme Court—had been completely ignored by the CARICOM Secretariat for nearly four years.
Persad-Bissessar articulated profound concerns about the organization’s apparent disregard for opposition voices, suggesting institutional bias toward incumbent governments. ‘The non-response may stem from poor management, lax accountability, or most troubling—the perception that one ceases to be recognized as a CARICOM citizen when not in government,’ she stated before assembled regional leaders.
The Prime Minister further criticized the growing practice of affiliate political parties campaigning across national borders, labeling it a destructive force fostering ‘unneeded factional divisions and private conflicts.’ She highlighted the inherent contradiction in expecting collegial cooperation among leaders whose parties had actively intervened in each other’s domestic elections. Her comments referenced recent events where a senior member of her United National Congress had publicly attacked St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ leadership during their November general elections.
Persad-Bissessar issued a compelling appeal for CARICOM to transcend partisan politics and serve all citizens equally, regardless of their governing status. ‘We are not red, yellow, blue, or green—we are all CARICOM persons deserving of mutual respect,’ she emphasized, urging the organization to reclaim its role as a unifying force rather than an instrument for political advantage.