So Trinidad is not leaving Caricom!

In case you missed it, a few weeks ago Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar made headlines when she said she no longer considers Caricom a reliable partner.

The PM said that over the next couple years, there will be a significant “realignment” of her country’s foreign policy. 

She said, quote, “We will mainly focus on increasing linkages and co-operation with countries outside the region. We need to look for new partners in trade, investment and security”.

Naturally, that led to speculations about whether Trinidad had intentions to eventually leave Caricom – call it Trexit.

Well, Persad-Bissessar later clarified her government’s position, stating that Trinidad has no intention of leaving Caricom.

She said all she said was that the country needs to “open its wings” and look to others in the international arena. Currently, for T&T, that includes the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Europe.

She didn’t address the comment about Caricom being an unreliable partner, but said that Caricom will remain a bloc and Trinidad will remain as part of that bloc.

As for Trinidad’s stance on the US and Venezuela, that doesn’t appear to be changing.

Recently, US troops held five days of military drills in the twin island republic, as a show of force. Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro said, “The people of Trinidad and Tobago will see if they continue allowing their waters and land to be used to gravely threaten the peace of the Caribbean.”

But Trinidad has an incentive to help the US because they’ve had an influx of Venezuelan migrants in recent years, which is pressuring their already pressured economy. 

So from Trinidad’s perspective, they literally can not afford to not take sides in the dispute.

And that’s the bottom line.