In a detailed commentary regarding what he termed the “Caraccom matter,” Ralph Gonsalves recently addressed the ongoing diplomatic friction between Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean Community (Caricom).
The disjunction centers around the abrupt departure of Trinidad and Tobago’s leadership during a Caricom summit in St. Kitts and Nevis, the subsequent fallout, and the diplomatic mudslinging that followed. Gonsalves offered a comprehensive breakdown of the events, pointing to miscommunications, breached protocols, and a concerning rise in what he described as “Trumpian abuse” within regional politics.
The core of the dispute stems from the Caricom heads of government conference held in St. Kitts and Nevis. According to Gonsalves, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, departed the conference on the evening of February 25th, skipping the official retreat scheduled for the following day.
In an effort to ensure Trinidad and Tobago was represented at the retreat, Caricom Chairman and Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Terrence Drew, invited Trinidad’s Foreign Minister, Sobers, to attend. However, Sobers declined the invitation. According to a letter sent by Dr. Drew on April 8th, the foreign minister cited “personal issues with using the water taxi transit” to Nevis, indicating that he feared he would get seasick.
Sobers later claimed his remark about seasickness was merely a joke. Gonsalves, however, was unamused by the excuse, noting that a five-minute boat ride is a standard mode of transit in the federation and quoting a village proverb: “joke for one kind animal ain’t joke for another”.
Tensions escalated when Sobers publicly accused Gonsalves of lying about Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar attendance record at the summit. Gonsalves maintained his assertion that Persad-Bissessar primary substantive engagement was a meeting with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, after which she departed. He also noted that while she did speak at the opening of the conference, she delivered a “bad speech” regarding Caribbean unity.
In response to Gonsalves’s critiques, Foreign Minister Sobers launched what Gonsalves characterized as a normalized form of “Trumpian abuse”. Sobers levied personal attacks against Gonsalves, including ageist remarks and false allegations that Gonsalves held a mortgage with Trinidad’s Housing Development Corporation (HDC).
Gonsalves firmly rejected these claims, stating that neither he nor his family holds any mortgage with a housing company in Trinidad and Tobago. Addressing the age-based attacks, Gonsalves reminded Sobers that at almost 80 years old, his brain remains in “top shape,” and pointed out that he is only about five years older than Trinidad Prime Minister, who will soon turn 74. Gonsalves suggested that the 54-year-old foreign minister—who is young enough to be his son—should show more respect to his elders and recognize Gonsalves’s 25-year tenure as prime minister and 32 years as a parliamentary representative.
A critical point of Gonsalves’s analysis revolves around the legal and procedural mechanisms of Caricom. Sobers reportedly circulated a 14-page document claiming he possessed the instruments authorizing him to represent his Prime Minister at any caucus or retreat meeting, alleging he was essentially blocked from attending.
Gonsalves systematically dismantled this defense by pointing to Article 11, Paragraph 2 of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which explicitly states that any head of government may designate a minister to represent them at any meeting of the conference. Gonsalves argued that Trinidad and Tobago boasts a highly professional foreign service; if a lower-level official had attempted to deny Soas entry to the retreat by claiming it was a “heads only” meeting, Sobers or his delegation simply needed to cite Article 11 to guarantee his legal right to participate.
Because this straightforward protocol was not utilized, Gonsalves speculated that Sobers may have constructed a misleading narrative about a “disinvitation” to obscure the facts from his Prime Minister.
The diplomatic rift has already yielded negative consequences for regional cohesion. Gonsalves highlighted that Trinidad and Tobago completely boycotted a subsequent Caricom Zoom meeting where the matter was meant to be discussed. Furthermore, former Trinidadian Foreign Minister published an article declaring that Trinidad and Tobago will boycott all future Caricom meetings as long as Dr. Carla Barnett remains the Secretary-General.
Gonsalves outlined several avenues the Trinidad Prime Ministercould take to resolve the disjunction:
- Fire Foreign Minister Sobers for omitting details and mismanaging the situation.
- Let bygones be bygones, turning over a new leaf for the sake of Caribbean unity and working cooperatively with Secretary-General Dr. Barnett.
- Pursue legal action by challenging the matter at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), though Gonsalves doubts this would be successful.
- Initiate an exit from Caricom, which requires a one-year notice, or alternatively, cease paying member subscriptions—a move Gonsalves warned would cause immense regional disunity.
Gonsalves framed the Trinidad and Tobago disjunction as a dangerous manifestation of political hubris, cautioning against the “delusion of omnipotence” and the “illusion of power” that can cloud the judgment of newly empowered officials.
Appealing to their shared spiritual roots, Gonsalves urged the Trinidad Prime Minister to tap into her spiritualism to help return regional relations to normal. He also extended an olive branch to Foreign Minister Sobers, advising him to be more circumspect with his language, abandon his hubris, and stop contributing to a breach of trust that only serves to cause confusion within the Caribbean Community. Gonsalves stressed that the overarching priority must remain the settlement of this dispute in a manner that serves the best interests of the Caribbean people as a whole.