- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 28/Aug 08:39

Trump’s axis of co-operation

TO FIGHT the scourge of illegal narcotics, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 73, is willing to work with Donald Trump, 79. But it’s not just the US alone that’s involved in Mr Trump’s Venezuelan offensive, with a new geo-political axis of co-operation now taking shape around it. How stable and meaningful this assemblage is remains to be seen, but it’s unusual and unprecedented. “We will work with anyone to fight the scourge of drug, arms and human trafficking,” the Prime Minister told this newspaper on August 26, hours after the Trump administration unveiled what it termed an international coalition that includes Argentina, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay and TT. “We had over ten thousand murders in the last 25 years. The country has been drowning in blood; I will accept any help that is available to make our community safe again.” The boundaries of that help were outlined by Washington earlier in the day when, during a cabinet meeting with Mr Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced all the countries lining up to help. “We’re getting incredible economic international co-operation,” he claimed. “And one thing is there – we’re going to stop drugs coming in, we’re having record seizures; but another thing is to have an international coalition against the scourge on the international stage.” It’s possible that this is all window dressing. The Trump administration’s disdain for the rules-based international order is clear. It’s also possible that America’s recent military manoeuvres are mere sabre-rattling at a time when Mr Trump is preoccupied by scandals at home and deadly wars abroad. Yet, when it comes to foreign policy, the so-called “Trump doctrine” has been pellucidly clear. America first is America first. Which is why Mr Rubio’s effort to paint the US president’s push against Nicolás Maduro as a multilateral one is a departure. Will it stick? The White House aims to isolate Caracas. But Washington may find that easier said than done, even with burgeoning support. Global leaders might back actions premised on provocations by Mr Maduro in relation to Essequibo, but few might support unprovoked incursions into sovereign Venezuelan territory. Ms Persad-Bissessar’s position almost evokes memories of that of Eugenia Charles, the Dominican prime minister who backed the US invasion of Grenada in the wake of the murder of Maurice Bishop in 1983. Back then, another Republican president sat in the Oval Office: Ronald Reagan. Mr Trump is a different beast. The TT prime minister has her eyes on crime. But she might also be eyeing negotiating tariffs. How viable the Trumpian axis of co-operation is will be fully revealed by how the US treats individual states like this country in the coming weeks. The post Trump’s axis of co-operation appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.