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Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is warning members of the fisherfolk community not to venture beyond the territorial waters of Trinidad and Tobago, reiterating the country’s support for the United States war on drugs in the region.

‘I saw some international media said that Trinidad and Tobago is a nation of fishermen. Nothing is further from the truth. We have fishermen but we have industries and other forms of income.

‘The impression is being made that fishermen from Trinidad and Tobago are being bombed out of the sea. What are you doing out here? Why are you so far off? Why don’t you stay in your zone? Why don’t you stay in Trinidad and Tobago waters and you’ll be safe.

‘Trinidad is not a target. Tobago is not a target. So I totally disagree with the narrative out there by some, you know, that we’re exposing our nationals to danger,’ she told reporters as she wrapped up a visit to the sister isle on Tuesday.

In recent weeks, the United States military has been bombing vessels in the international waters claiming that the occupants were drug traffickers without offering any evidence of such activity.

The families of two Trinidad and Tobago nationals, who were reported to have been casualties of the US bombings, have since made ‘missing persons’ reports to the police here.

The United Nations UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also strongly condemned the airstrikes carried out by the United States against alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Volker Trk said in a statement that the strikes ‘violate international human rights law’, demanding that they be stopped immediately.

Last month, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said that regional leaders had discussed several issues on the regional agenda, including the security build-up in parts of the Caribbean and its potential impact on member states.

It said that the position at that meeting was not endorsed by the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said that as a result of the US action, the illegal drug flows to the country have decreased.

Police Commissioner, Allister Guevarro, speaking at a news conference in Port of Spain, also indicated that the war on the illegal drugs trade is having an effect on local supply.

‘The intelligence indicates that there is a current shortage of the illicit drugs, particularly from those trafficked from Venezuela and Colombia and the disruption has directly affected the availability of the narcotics in Trinidad and Tobago, which as you know in business terms, when there is a shortage in supply, you know what goes up.

‘So we have detected there has been a marked increase in the price of narcotics on the streets,’ Guevarro said, adding this has led to those in the illegal drugs trade seeking to develop alternative routes.

‘You know Trinis really ingenious. Here is the first thing they want to do. They going and plant weed and we already treating with that. They have men looking for particular breed of seeds from abroad to bring in, we treating with that already’.

He said the police were already treating with marijuana eradication across the country and that on September 12, law enforcement officers seized 268 kilogrammes of Colombian creepy marijuana with a street value in excess of TT$29 million (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents).

He said on September 30, another operation led to the seizure of 201 Colombian creepy marijuana and that the US military activity has also curbed the influx of other illegal items into Trinidad and Tobago.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the non-governmental organisation, Friends and Fishermen of the Sea, Gary Aboud, said its members have been advised by the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard that ‘it is dangerous to go off shore, and they are right, because we could be murdered at any time like many others who have been murdered before.

‘We respect the warning and we urge our members to err on the side of caution, to stay close in land, not to drive at any speed because things that are moving at more than 20 knots can be blown to pieces and we support the prime minister’s statement about having respect for the rule of law that respect should also be the government and the United States should not conduct extra judicial killings. It is wrong’.

Aboud said that the Coast Guard is also urging that the fisherfolk stay within ‘the line of sight’ adding ‘instead of chasing our members out of a livelihood, shouldn’t the Coast Guard consider the activation of radars because without radars the Coast Guard are blind and blind national security is the easiest to out maneuvered.

‘We strongly support the Coast Guard safety measures, but we think that there is more that should be done rather than just prohibit our members and denying them the right to make a living.

‘If it is our members are being denied the right to make a living, with great respect I ask the Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic to please consider some kind of compensation for our men because we are at the bottom of the economic ladder,’ Aboud added.

Haiti has appealed to the international community to help restore security in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country where criminal gangs have taken over most, if not all of the capital, Port-au- Prince and surrounding neighbourhoods.

‘I specifically call on all States to make effective contributions to the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), approved by the United Nations Security Council on September 30th,’ President of the Transitional President Council (TPC), Laurent Saint-Cyr, as he addressed the second World Summit for Social Development here.

President of the Transitional President Council (TPC), Laurent Saint-Cyr, as he addressed the second World Summit for Social Development in Doha (UN Web TV).

‘Making the Gang Repression Force operational as soon as possible, while learning from the experience of the Multinational Security Support Mission, is an imperative of international solidarity, fully in line with the spirit of this Summit.

‘The social development that the Haitian people and people around the world deserve requires peace, stability, and security,’ he added.

Authorised to have up to 5,550 personnel, the GSF’s mandate is to proactively neutralise, isolate, and deter criminal gangs, which currently control significant parts of the country. The GSF will conduct intelligence-led operations to combat violence, secure critical infrastructure, and support humanitarian access.

Saint-Cyr said that the TPC, created in April 2024 to lead the country until elections can be held, is commitment to restoring security, with the support of international partners, and to preparing free and credible elections to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Haitian people.

In his address, Saint-Cyr, said social development is not a choice but a duty of the international community.

He thanked partners for support after Hurricane Melissa, which exposed Haiti’s structural weaknesses and community vulnerabilities, emphasizing that development requires peace, security, and stability.

The Haitian government Tuesday announced that the death toll from Hurricane Melissa had risen to 43, with 21 injured and 13 people still missing.

It said rescue teams continued their efforts to reach communities in the southwest of the country, where landslides and flooding devastated more than 30 towns and villages.

Saint-Cyr said Haiti is prioritizing security, elections, humanitarian response and economic recovery. He said the government is reintegrating children and youth formerly involved with armed groups through vocational training and relocating displaced people with dignity.

He stressed the need for urgent international support to move from short-term aid to sustainable investment.

Meanwhile, Saint-Cyr met with the United Kingdom Under-Secretary of State, Chris Elmore, on the sidelines of the meeting.

It said that during their discussions, Saint-Cyr reiterated the crucial importance of restoring security for the success of the transition and advocated for the swift implementation of the Foreign Relations Guarantee (FRG), an essential condition for holding free and credible elections and returning to democratic order.

He also requested British support in the maritime domain to curb the illicit flow of arms into Haiti, as well as increased cooperation in maritime surveillance and intelligence sharing to contribute to restoring security in the country.

Elmore is reported to have expressed London’s concern regarding the humanitarian situation in Haiti and commended the efforts undertaken by the transitional government to address it.

Antigua and Barbuda has called for a renewed era of global solidarity, one that recognizes the shared responsibilities of all countries in addressing poverty, inequality, and the climate crisis.

Addressing the second World Summit for Social Development here, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Barbuda Affairs Minister, E.P. Chet Greene, underscored his country’s steadfast commitment to inclusive growth, climate resilience, and the protection of human dignity.

Foreign Affairs, Trade and Barbuda Affairs Minister, E.P. Chet Greene, addressing second World Summit for Social Development (UN webTV)

Greene said that there was need for a renewed era of global solidarity, noting that despite strong national initiatives and progressive social policies, ‘national action, however robust, cannot withstand global headwinds alone’.

He said that the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), which emerged from the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, presents a framework for a new global partnership rooted not in charity, but in justice.

‘We demand that developed nations honour their Official Development Assistance pledges as a moral imperative, not as an act of benevolence,’ he said, adding ‘we insist that access to finance be based on our multidimensional vulnerability, not an outdated GDP (gross domestic product) metric.’

Greene called for the revitalization of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 17) that deals with global partnerships, urging the international community to reignite the promise of Copenhagen by placing people once again at the centre of development.

‘Let us vow, here in Doha, that no child’s potential will be stunted by hunger; that no mother’s life will be lost for want of care; and that no island nation will be sacrificed to the rising seas of global inaction.’

Greene reaffirmed Antigua and Barbuda’s determination to translate resilience from concept to action, noting that social development must remain the foundation for peace, prosperity, and stability.

Global leaders meeting here have adopted a landmark pledge to build a fairer, more inclusive and sustainable future for all people, a guiding document the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as ‘a booster shot for development’ and ‘a people’s plan’.

The UN said that by adopting the Doha Political Declaration by consensus, countries agreed to step up efforts to deliver on the promises made 30 years ago at the first Social Summit in Copenhagen and to accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Declaration renews and expands the 1995 commitments to meet today’s complex challenges, strengthening action on the interlinked pillars of poverty eradication, decent work, and social inclusion. It calls for universal, gender-responsive social protection and equitable access to health and education while emphasizing the need to counter misinformation and hate speech that threaten democratic values.