PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — T&T defies Caricom with an unambiguous declaration this week, as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced the country will not recognise Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett beyond the expiration of her current term in August 2026, dismissing a majority bloc of member states that voted to confirm her reappointment.
“That’s not going to change,” Persad-Bissessar said. “We do not recognise her after August 2026. This is our final position.”
The Reappointment Dispute
The standoff stems from decisions taken at the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in St Kitts and Nevis in February, when Barnett’s reappointment was advanced without Trinidad and Tobago present and, Port of Spain contends, without the matter being formally placed on the plenary agenda, a procedural breach, it argues, of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Earlier reporting on the Barnett reappointment dispute established that Persad-Bissessar had already demanded records and raised transparency concerns over the process.
Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers has stated he received a WhatsApp message disinviting him from the Nevis retreat on the morning of the event. Persad-Bissessar subsequently accused Barnett of authoring a Caricom press release issued under Chairman Dr Terrance Drew’s name that defended the reappointment while deliberately omitting any reference to the disinvitation message. She noted the message remains visible on the COFCOR WhatsApp group.
The Prime Minister said she has received no response to those outstanding questions. “No, they are still hiding from providing responses,” she said. “It’s really shameful that the entire group knows that Barnett did disinvite Minister Sobers via WhatsApp, but they still persist in continuing with dishonesty.”
Persad-Bissessar also accused Caricom foreign ministers of a “deliberate and disgraceful silence,” stating they were privy to the WhatsApp evidence yet chose to remain quiet. She said Sobers has since written to Chairman Drew requesting the retreat notes and formally citing the disinvitation message, but has received no reply.
At a virtual Caricom session last Friday, convened at Montserrat’s request to address the controversy, ten of fifteen member-state representatives were present. Trinidad and Tobago’s delegation raised objections, noting that both the Prime Minister and Sobers were unavailable due to an official visit by India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and parliamentary obligations. The majority present resolved that the reappointment would stand.
T&T Charts Independent Course
On the suggestion that the dispute be referred to the Caribbean Court of Justice, Persad-Bissessar ruled it out, stating her government would not move to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the country’s final appellate court.
The Prime Minister said Trinidad and Tobago is not waiting on CARICOM as a trade market. “We are actively working to expand our trade network with the Middle East, South America, India, and Africa,” she said, adding that her government is exploring new markets and expanding existing ones independent of the regional body.
Responding to questions about possible mediation by Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Persad-Bissessar said she holds him in high regard and considers him a good friend to Trinidad and Tobago, but said details of their conversations would remain confidential. It was reported that Holness has been seeking to bring about a resolution to the ongoing impasse.
On the question of T&T’s continued participation in Caricom meetings, the Prime Minister said the country has always sent representation. “Trinidad and Tobago has always been represented by someone at Caricom meetings,” she said, “except when we are sent WhatsApp messages by the GS disinviting us.”
On Expulsion, T&T Defies Caricom and Calls Its Bluff
Pressed on whether Caricom could move to expel Trinidad and Tobago, Persad-Bissessar said the possibility did not concern her.
“They are free to expel us from Caricom if they wish to do so,” she said. “Life goes on in Trinidad and Tobago, with or without Caricom. The world stops for no one.”
The Prime Minister characterised Caricom as dysfunctional and chaotic, telling the Express the Caribbean public can now see it plainly. “Imagine, they have no meeting minutes, no performance appraisals, none of the documentation we requested,” she said. She drew a clear distinction between the body’s structure and a political union, arguing that as a common market, the stakes of any rupture are limited and the decision of whether to continue engaging ultimately rests with member states.
Details were first reported by the Trinidad Express.
