Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar Saturday said the 15-member regional integration grouping, CARICOM will not determine the future of her country and that it ‘is not a reliable partner at this time’.
‘An organisation that chooses to disparage our greatest ally the United States but lends support to the Maduro narco-government headed by a dictator who has imprisoned and killed thousands of civilians and opposition members as well as threatened two CARICOM members is one that has clearly lost its way,’ Persad-Bissessar said in a statement.
She said that on December 16, the US government issued a fact sheet outlining the decision by President Donald Trump to further restrict and limit the entry of certain foreign nationals in the interest of United States national security.
‘The fact sheet detailed the justification for the partial suspension of entry for immigrants and nonimmigrants under the B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visa categories, and referenced the historical operation of Citizenship by Investment programmes without residency requirements in both Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda.
‘I have taken note of a subsequent statement issued by the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In its statement, the Bureau expressed concern about the restrictions that the US government announced on December 16, 2025.’
Persad-Bissessar said that she was advising citizens of of Trinidad and Tobago that Port of Spain ‘is not a party to the statement issued by the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government.