Trinidad and Tobago PM says US can use territory if Venezuela attacks Guyana

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said her government would allow US military access to the country’s territory if Venezuela were to attack Guyana.

The Trinidad and Tobago prime minister made the remarks as she backed Washington’s ongoing deployment of military assets to the Caribbean to combat drug cartels.

Persad-Bissessar, in a statement published on the United National Congress’ Facebook page, stressed that no such request has been made by the United States, but warned that if the Maduro administration “launches any attack against the Guyanese people or invades Guyanese territory and a request is made by the American Government for access to Trinidadian territory to defend the people of Guyana, my government will unflinchingly provide them that access.”

She reiterated that the US presence in the Caribbean has her administration’s full support, saying law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear and that only those engaged in or enabling criminal activity should be worried.

The prime minister argued that small island states like Trinidad and Tobago lack the financial and military resources to confront the drug cartels, which she said have embedded themselves in high levels of Caribbean society and weakened governments’ ability to act. She pointed to record murder rates, gang activity, drug addiction, and rising violence across the region as justification for welcoming US support.

Persad-Bissessar rejected suggestions that her government should consult with CARICOM, saying each member state can make its own decision. She also dismissed criticism of the US deployment as “anti-American propaganda,” adding that the US military was operating legally in international waters and had not violated regional sovereignty.

Trinidad and Tobago, she said, would maintain good relations with the Venezuelan people.

“May good sense and peace prevail,” the statement concluded.