A public political dispute has erupted over claims surrounding Trinidad and Tobago Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers’ absence from a February Caricom heads of government retreat held in Nevis, with Sobers directly refuting accusations from St Vincent and the Grenadines Opposition Leader Dr Ralph Gonsalves that he skipped the event due to seasickness.
Speaking on his Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) radio broadcast this week, Gonsalves laid out his version of events, claiming Trinidad and Tobago had received an official invitation to the closed Caricom heads caucus in Nevis. According to Gonsalves, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was unable to attend the retreat and tapped Sobers to attend in her place, only for Sobers to turn down the opportunity citing a history of seasickness.
Sobers forcefully pushed back against these claims during a post-Cabinet press briefing held at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, dismissing Gonsalves’ narrative as a “big bold-faced lie” and laying out a detailed timeline of what actually occurred in the lead-up to the retreat. The minister acknowledged he made an offhand joke about seasickness the evening before the event, but clarified he was fully prepared and ready to travel to Nevis on the morning of the retreat when he received last-minute notification that only sitting heads of government were permitted to attend the closed session.
“I informed the Caricom Chair that as Trinidad and Tobago’s Head of Delegation, I wanted to attend to advance our country’s national interests,” Sobers told reporters. “That notification came through at approximately 8:56 a.m. on Thursday, February 24, and I immediately reached out to the Caricom Secretariat to confirm the instruction was authentic, which it was. I then asked Trinidad and Tobago’s Caricom Director to follow up directly with the Chef de Cabinet to double-check the ruling, and that confirmation was again confirmed: only heads of government would be allowed entry.”
Sobers further noted that the final published attendee list for the boat transfers to Nevis excluded not just Trinidad and Tobago, but also Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas—all three nations being represented by ministerial delegates rather than sitting heads at the event. “If Gonsalves’ story is true, does that mean every minister who wasn’t invited just happened to have seasickness? This is a clear falsehood,” he added.
The Trinidad and Tobago minister went on to accuse Gonsalves of manufacturing the controversy to distract from a far more serious procedural breach at the regional summit: the controversial reappointment of Dr Carla Barnett as Caricom Secretary-General, which he says was conducted in secret without the participation or input of Trinidad and Tobago and other delegations, in direct violation of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Sobers emphasized that the reappointment was never listed as an official agenda item for the retreat, the plenary sessions, the official joint communiqué, or the closing press conference, calling the failure to follow established procedure the real core issue at hand.
Local news outlet The Express later obtained a copy of a WhatsApp message circulated to Caricom Foreign Ministers in February that appears to back up Sobers’ account. The message, sent by event organizers, reads: “Good morning Foreign Ministers. Chairman PM Drew has indicated that today will be a Heads only retreat. He apologises for any inconvenience. Ministers should therefore remain for the Community Council Meeting to complete its work, including those agenda items from the Heads’ agenda which Community Council is to consider and provide recommendations to Heads for adoption.”
Despite this evidence, the domestic opposition in Trinidad and Tobago has seized on the controversy to call for Sobers’ resignation. Former Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne, speaking at an opposition press briefing, challenged Sobers’ version of events, claiming “None were excluded, none were denied, none were dis-invited, and all were welcome.” Browne also accused the ruling People’s National Movement government of holding an anti-Caricom agenda aimed at weakening and dismantling the regional bloc.
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles also weighed in, drawing on her past experience as a diplomatic ambassador to question Sobers’ account. “If there’s one thing you cannot do is leave any of those meetings, especially if the Prime Minister was expected to be in attendance, you can’t leave, you must attend,” she said, doubling down on calls for accountability from the current minister.