Barbados Sends Military and Police Personnel to Antigua and Barbuda for CHOGM Security

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, October 28, 2026 — As Antigua and Barbuda ramps up preparations to host the highly anticipated 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) running November 1 to 4, a combined security team from Barbados has arrived in the twin-island nation to bolster cross-agency safety efforts for the global diplomatic gathering. The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) officially confirmed the deployment in a public statement released Wednesday, noting that the integrated unit made up of both military service members and Barbados Police Service officers departed Barbados on Tuesday, October 27, to join pre-event security planning and operational activities on the ground. This deployment represents a key pillar of long-standing regional security collaboration across the Caribbean, designed to deliver robust protection for the dozens of world leaders, official diplomatic delegates, event staff, and civilian participants traveling to Antigua and Barbuda for the week-long summit. While the BDF chose not to disclose the exact headcount of the deployed contingent or outline granular details of individual team members’ operational duties, it emphasized that the deployment underscores Barbados’ unwavering commitment to collective public safety, cross-border partnership, and professional excellence in advancing a more secure and stable Caribbean region for all residents and international visitors. Local authorities in Antigua and Barbuda had previously announced that the CHOGM security framework would integrate specialized personnel from regional and international partner agencies alongside local law enforcement, national defence units, and domestic public safety teams, framing the entire operation as a fully synchronized, multi-stakeholder effort to mitigate risks and ensure the summit proceeds smoothly without incident. The official government portal of Antigua and Barbuda (ab.gov.ag) first shared preliminary details of the coordinated regional security arrangement earlier this week.