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As Trinidad and Tobago continues to align itself more closely with Washington’s Might is Right foreign policy, legitimate questions arise about whose interests PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar truly serves. Her provocative statements targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and her uncritical support for US military actions in the region raise troubling concerns about evidence, ethics, and national -sovereignty. Here are four questions Mrs Persad-Bissessar must answer: 1. Justiciable evidence or Washington echo chamber? Is Mrs Persad-Bissessar in possession of any hard evidence to justify her repeated public accusations that Venezuelan President Maduro is a narco-trafficker? Or is she simply parroting the Trump narrative recycled by Washington’s war hawks? 2. Endorsing extrajudicial killings? Can Mrs Persad-Bissessar defend her open support for US military operations that have resulted in the violent, extra-judicial killings of unidentified persons—reportedly including two Trinidad and Tobago nationals—on the mere assumption that they were “narco-terrorists”? Or is she once again being influenced by US Senator Marco Rubio—derisively dubbed “NarcoRubio” in parts of the South American underworld—whose own brother-in-law, Orlando Cicilia, was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison after Operation Cobra, a federal sting targeting cocaine and marijuana trafficking? (See coverage in major Miami newspapers and the Miami Business Insider.) 3. Justice, American-style? To date, Washington has failed to produce a shred of credible evidence to back its narco-trafficking charges against Maduro other than its much-touted US grand jury indictment—which is nothing more than an age-old strategy used by Washington whenever it wishes to abduct and forcibly remove strong foreign leaders. There has been no sharing of credible information, evidence, or intelligence by the US government with the United Nations (or any of its agencies like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC]) asserting under UN-approved process that the Venezuelan state is officially a narco-trafficking or “narco-terrorist” state. But Kamla Persad-Bissessar knows Maduro and his government are guilty of drug trafficking. I hope readers are recognising the absurdity of her utterances and the insanity of the position in which she has placed herself and Trinidad and Tobago. As an attorney, Kamla Persad-Bissessar would—or at least should—know a US grand jury indictment is not a verdict; it simply finds “probable cause that a crime has been committed” and that the person indicted committed it. It only has domestic legal force. It is not internationally binding or self-executing; it carries no judicial weight in international law and cannot be enforced without US military muscle. A US grand jury indictment is a tool of political pressure, not an instrument of international justice. Ironically, under that same indictment, Maduro is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Yet attorney Persad-Bissessar seems content to lend legitimacy to what clearly looks like Trump’s version of kangaroo-court justice. 4. National pride vs political subservience? Proud, right-thinking Trinidadians cannot be faulted for feeling that the Prime Minister’s sycophantic attempts to curry favour with the Trump administration do more than betray her poor judgment—they undermine our sovereignty and insult our national pride. National dignity has become the first casualty of Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s prime ministership. As one of those many proud, right-thinking Trinidadians, it is my fervent hope that Kamla Persad-Bissessar will soon be no more than an unpleasant memory—a stain on our country’s image. Anthony Staniclaus
