Kamla: No fears of economic impact from Caricom fallout

PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she had no fears over any economic impact from Caricom, although not spelling out details, amid a potential brewing rift between her and Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

Persad-Bissessar has been accused of side-lining Caricom as "an unreliable partner" and its zone of peace policy in order to side with the US whose fleet is now positioned against narco traffickers allegedly linked to Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro.

However on December 21 in a Facebook post, Browne said last year TT had earned US$1.1 billion ($7.7 billion) in Caricom, including benefiting from US$142 million ($968.6 million) paid in Caricom nations in customs revenue to source TT goods under Caricom's common external tariff (CET) protection.

However the 2024 Review of the Economy in the latest TT budget citing lower figures, saying TT's balance of trade with Caricom was $4.9 billion over nine months.

This included $5.9 billion in exports to Caricom and $1.03 billion in imports from Caricom, the document said.

Newsday asked the PM if the government might consider withdrawing TT from Caricom.

Persad-Bissessar, via WhatsApp, said, "Withdrawal from Caricom has not been discussed by Cabinet.

"I am not worried about any economic impact."

Port of Spain North/St Ann's West MP Stuart Young in a post on X (formerly Twitter) chided the PM.

Young said, "Kamla Persad Bissessar’s continued attack on Caricom and its members is not only reckless and unwarranted it is also dangerous and destructive.

"Someone explain to her how important Caricom is for our manufacturers and our economy. TT is not winning."

Opposition Senator Dr Amery Browne who is a former foreign affairs minister was very critical of Persad-Bissessar's position on Caricom.

"When you try to discredit and attack Caricom, you are attacking a 21 member state regional organisation established on the July 4, 1973, comprised of 15 full members and six associate members.

"When in the absence of any evidence you accuse Caricom of being 'narco-aligned', you are making a very serious accusation against Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize, Suriname, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Dominica, St Lucia, Montserrat, and the Caricom Secretariat plus the six associates."

In a Facebook post on December 22, Gaston Browne said he loves his Trinidadian brothers and sisters “and no familial dispute can change that.”

He added, “Kamla – season’s greetings.”