CARICOM leaders meet on US invasion of Venezuela

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC - Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders met early on Saturday to discuss the United States' invasion of Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

A brief statement issued by the CARICOM Secretariat said that the 15-member regional integration grouping “is actively monitoring the situation, which is of grave concern to the region, with possible implications for neighbouring countries.”

“CARICOM will continue to update the people of the region as more information is received,” the two-paragraph statement added.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Saturday said that Trinidad and Tobago did not participate in the United States military action against Venezuela, leading to Washington’s claim that President Nicolás Maduro has been captured and taken out of the country.

“Earlier this morning, Saturday, 3rd January 2026, the United States commenced military operations within the territory of Venezuela. Trinidad and Tobago is NOT a participant in any of these ongoing military operations,” Persad-Bissessar said in a statement posted on X.

“Trinidad and Tobago continues to maintain peaceful relations with the people of Venezuela,” she added.

Persad-Bissessar has been openly in support of the United States' plan to deal with what it termed the illegal drugs trade, even as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) had been calling for the region to be maintained as a “Zone of Peace”.

Maduro had on Saturday declared a state of emergency over what his government called an “extremely serious military aggression” by the United States on the capital Caracas.

Multiple explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling aircraft flyovers, were heard around the city.

“Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and people,” the government said.

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