Rising military tensions risk destabilising region, PM warns UN

Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Friday warned the United Nations that accelerating military posturing in the hemisphere threatens Caribbean stability, urging regional leaders to take immediate action to avoid the outbreak of conflict.

Addressing world leaders at the UN General Assembly as the world body marks it 80th anniversary, she said the Caribbean cannot afford to become collateral damage in a superpower standoff, and called for renewed diplomatic engagement to prevent war.

She insisted that the Caribbean “must remain a zone of peace” as she expressed concern at both the increased US naval deployments in the southern Caribbean and Venezuelan military exercises near the disputed border with Guyana.

Regional observers have raised fears that a confrontation — even an accidental one — could destabilise the region.

“We’re now seeing a shocking violation of a hemispheric understanding that the Caribbean be treated as a zone of peace,” she told world leaders. “There has been a build-up in military assets in the last few weeks in the Caribbean by both sides — by the United States of America and by Venezuela.

We believe that any such build-up could occasion just an accident, and if it does, a simple accident can put the southern Caribbean at disproportionate risk.”

Caribbean nations “must not be viewed as collateral damage”, she declared, urging full respect for the territorial integrity of all states and pressing for “the necessary conversations to prevent war”, reminding the Assembly that “almost all wars end as a result of dialogue”.

Turning her attention to Haiti, Mottley lamented the “centuries of external interference and contemporary internal conflict” that have left the nation in turmoil. “Haiti, which was once a beacon of emancipation and revolution for all of us as black people, is today a victim … and regrettably, even blindness,” she said.

She commended Kenya for leading the Multinational Security Support Mission and called for “enhanced support of the UN Security Council and the Organisation of American States”, stressing the need for a long-term plan that addresses both security and development.

Mottley also highlighted the region’s struggle against the inflow of illegal firearms largely from the United States, warning that “fragile economies in the democracies of the Caribbean community are now being threatened by this incessant flow of illegally obtained weapons and increasingly organised criminal elements.” She urged stronger dialogue with the US to curb the spread of small arms and light weapons, particularly into Haiti and the wider Caribbean.

On Cuba, the prime minister said the island had been “a source of support for many across the globe in times of conflict, health crises and indeed colonial resistance”. Yet, she added, Havana has paid a high price for asserting its sovereignty.

“We must be prepared to engage in dialogue in order to stop the disproportionate suffering and the deprivation that is being inflicted on the Cuban society by what is now globally seen to be an unjust embargo and other unilateral coercive measures,” she declared.

“Barbados, my friends, reiterates its call for the end of the embargo and the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. This is unjust.” (SB)