CARICOM urges US to consult region before military action near Venezuela

As tensions between the United States and Venezuela continued to escalate on Tuesday amid a significant US naval build-up in the southern Caribbean, Barbados and other CARICOM countries pressed Washington for assurances that any military action aimed at Venezuela will not threaten regional stability or occur without prior consultation and warning.

While US officials say the deployment of warships targets threats from Latin American drug cartels—a core objective of President Donald Trump and part of a wider effort to stem migration and close the US southern border—CARICOM foreign ministers have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking discussions to ensure that any military operations do not extend to other Caribbean territories without notice and explanation.

Barbados’ Foreign Minister Kerrie Symmonds told Barbados TODAY: “We have at the level of foreign ministers met last week, and the meeting during the course of last week was designed to address this issue among some others; and we settled that a letter should be written, and in fact has been drafted by Dr Denzil Douglas, who is the chair of the Conference of Foreign Ministers, and as you know Dr Douglas is a five-time prime minister in St Kitts. And the letter is being sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“What effectively we are trying to do is to work through the diplomatic channels of making sure that there are no surprises and practices, so that you get notification wherever it is feasible for actions that are going to have a foreseeable regional impact; and that equally, that we are able to review from time to time, the nature of the dialogue which we are having.”

While acknowledging that some actions may be classified or legally constrained, the foreign minister said it is important to have more robust dialogue on these issues. “In that way,” he added, “we avoid misunderstandings and we can maintain and strengthen our mutual confidence with each other.” Symmonds said he had seen the draft of the letter and that it should have been sent off by now.

According to the foreign minister, there are two major considerations for the region with regard to the US military presence off Venezuela.

He said: “The presence of the military armada from the United States gives rise to the threat to the traditionally held posture or position of the Caribbean Sea as a zone of peace. And I don’t think at this point that there is any reason to believe that there is any change in that. What we have seen is a clearly articulated focus by the United States on the question of drugs and guns.

“And to that extent, I believe we all would want to be party to supporting that because, to the extent that it would be successful, it helps us to solve problems in Barbados, in Trinidad, in Guyana and across this region.”

He continued: “Closely related to the question of illegal drugs in the region is also the issue of illegal firearms. And to the extent that that is a problem, then Barbados is fully supportive of any effort which seeks to interdict the movement of illegal firearms, because, as you know, this country has been facing that problem, and it is a scourge, not only on us, it is a scourge on our neighbours in Trinidad and Tobago, and I think they are still under a public health emergency.” 

The foreign minister contended that it is equally a problem for almost every member state of the Eastern Caribbean. He recalled that CARICOM leaders recently held several meetings during which they addressed illegal gun crime as a public health issue.

He said: “We have met at the level of the Heads of Government with the chief justices of the region because it is necessary for the courts to understand and for the Heads to understand what is going through the minds of the judiciary and vice versa. So, there have been a number of obvious efforts to bring a specific focus on this type of matter.

“Where there is probably a little bit of daylight or the appearance of daylight, is that the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago has indicated, very openly, that the only people who should be worried about the activities of the US military are those who are engaged in enabling criminal activity. And perhaps, the way she put it is what is the root of this problem.”

He added that he does not think anyone has a difficulty with the interdiction of drugs or associated weapons.

The minister argued that instead, the discussion should focus on other public remarks. Although Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Kamla Persad Bissessar, issued a statement welcoming the naval deployment, Symmonds said “no request has ever been made by the American government for their military assets to access Trinidadian territory or for any action of a military nature to be taken against the regime in Venezuela; and I suspect that that is the unspoken fear in all of this.”

Symmonds suggested that concerns may have been compounded by the US government placing a bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and linking him to drug trafficking.

“So, I understand where that concern comes about,” Symmonds concluded.

In a late development on Tuesday, Trump announced that US forces had struck a drug-carrying vessel in the southern Caribbean, after it had departed from Venezuela.

Rubio tweeted on the social media site X that the ship was operated by a “designated narco-terrorist organisation” and described the action as a lethal strike.

In a later post on the Trump-owned Truth Social platform, the president stated the vessel was controlled by the Tren de Aragua gang and said that 11 people were killed in the operation.

The US Navy now has two Aegis guided-missile destroyers in the Caribbean—the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham—as well as the destroyer USS Sampson and the cruiser USS Lake Erie in the Pacific Ocean off Latin America, a defence official confirmed.

The military presence is expected to increase, with three amphibious assault ships—a force totalling more than 4 000 sailors and marines—set to enter the waters off South America by next week, according to the official. 

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb