Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has criticised CARICOM’s stance on maintaining a “Zone of Peace,” saying the regional body has sided with Venezuela over Trinidad and Tobago.

At a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting on October 18, leaders discussed regional security concerns. A statement from CARICOM said all members except Trinidad and Tobago reaffirmed the Caribbean as a “Zone of Peace” and pledged to promote dialogue and peaceful conflict resolution. Former regional leaders, including ex–Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Dr. Keith Rowley, also endorsed the declaration.

Responding on October 27, Persad-Bissessar said, “It is very clear that some of Caricom partners have taken a different view by talking about the zone of peace.

“But there is no zone of peace in Trinidad and Tobago, maybe there is a zone of peace for some of the CARICOM neighbours because they are further north.

“We are the closest here to the mainland and we are being really seriously hit with the drug trafficking, the gangs, the cartels, the human trafficking, the gun running- that is not happening in their country because they are not having 600 murders in a year, the level of their crime is not what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago, so they are saying it’s a zone of peace, keep the zone of peace but Trinidad and Tobago is definitely not a zone of peace.

She also added, “CARICOM is proving to be an unreliable partner in some regards because they chose Venezuela over Trinidad, they chose Venezuela over Trinidad and that is something we need to remember.”

Meanwhile, Persad-Bissessar said her government will present a motion to Parliament on Friday, October 31, to extend the current State of Emergency (SoE), which was due to expire on October 28.

“The commissioner of police has recommended that the SoE be extended,” she said, noting that the motion has been placed on the parliamentary agenda for debate at 1:30 p.m.

The government first declared a State of Emergency on July 18, later extending it on July 28 for three months. Authorities said the measure was necessary due to intelligence about a highly organised criminal network operating inside and outside the country’s prisons and allegedly targeting senior government officials and national institutions.