Antigua PM tackles T&T counterpart over claim CARICOM has ‘lost its way’

ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):

The Antigua and Barbuda government yesterday disputed recent comments by Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar that the 15-member regional integration grouping, CARICOM, “is not a reliable partner at this time” and that it cannot continue to operate in “this dysfunctional and self-destructive manner, as it is a grave disservice to the people of the Caribbean”.

In a statement, Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the recent comments by Persad-Bissessar regarding CARICOM and the position taken by Antigua and Barbuda “merit a measured response grounded in facts, respect, and the long history of Caribbean cooperation”.

Said Browne: “Antigua and Barbuda has never questioned the sovereign right of any CARICOM member to conduct its bilateral relations as it sees fit. Equally, no member should question the legitimacy of another CARICOM state engaging responsibly, transparently, and respectfully with international partners, including the United States (US), on matters that directly affect its citizens.”

He dismissed the assertions that CARICOM is an “unreliable partner” to Trinidad and Tobago as difficult to reconcile with the economic record.

According to Browne, in 2024 alone, Trinidad and Tobago earned more than US$1.1 billion in foreign exchange from trade with CARICOM, comprising approximately US$784.7 million in domestic exports and US$501.3 million in re-exports to CARICOM states.

He said CARICOM was Trinidad and Tobago’s second-largest export market, exceeded only by the US.

“That trade has not been balanced. Trinidad and Tobago recorded the largest merchandise trade surplus within CARICOM, and it remains the only member state to have maintained a net positive trade balance with the Community consistently since the inception of CARICOM in 1973,” Browne said.

Economic sacrifice

He said this outcome has been facilitated in part by the Common External Tariff (CET), under which CARICOM states, including Antigua and Barbuda, apply protective tariffs on extra-regional imports to support Trinidad and Tobago’s manufacturing sector.

“In 2024, CARICOM countries collectively forwent approximately US$142.7 million in customs revenue as a result of sourcing goods from Trinidad and Tobago under CET protection, an economic sacrifice borne by Caribbean consumers in the spirit of regional solidarity.”

Browne said CARICOM’s reliability extended well beyond trade.

“Trinidad and Tobago faces some of the highest levels of organised crime in the Caribbean, and regional cooperation through CARICOM security mechanisms, intelligence sharing, and coordinated law-enforcement initiatives has been an essential pillar of the response. Antigua and Barbuda, like other member states, has consistently supported that collective security effort.”

In her statement on Saturday, Persad-Bissessar said that “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”.

She distanced her country from a statement issued by the CARICOM Bureau with regard to the US’s decision to fully restrict nationals from Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda from entering the North American country.

“I acknowledge the right of the Bureau of the Conference to express its views. However, the Trinidad and Tobago government maintains its own position on the matter and recognises the sovereign right of the United States to make decisions in furtherance of its best interests.

“I hold the view that every sovereign state is responsible for its foreign and domestic policy choices and must be prepared to accept the concomitant consequences. The exercise of power by the United States of America to advance their best interests must therefore be seen as a measured response to the conduct of other nations in the realities of the current environments that they place themselves in,” Persad-Bissessar said.

Washington has since suspended that decision following representation from the two CARICOM countries.

In her statement, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said her government “does not bind itself to the political ideologies or foreign, economic and security policies of any other CARICOM member government”.