- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 27/Aug 13:04

Illusion of security

Zara St Clair The government’s recent, effusive embrace of the US military deployment in the Caribbean is being sold to us as a necessary war on drugs. Do not be fooled! This is not about saving our children from gang violence. This is a geopolitical transaction where the currency is our national sovereignty, and the price will be paid with our safety and our future. The statement from the Office of the Prime Minister reads less like a considered policy and more like a loyalty oath to a foreign power. It repeatedly assures, “law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear.” History’s darkest chapters are filled with such empty assurances. The citizens of Ukraine were also once told they had nothing to fear, before their country became the battlefield for a proxy war between great powers. By explicitly offering our territory as a “staging ground” for a US military action against Venezuela, this government has done the unthinkable: it has voluntarily put us in the crosshairs of a conflict we have for decades wisely avoided. Dragon field foothold Let us be clear-eyed about the real prize: energy. The world’s eyes are locked on the vast oil and gas reserves in the Guyana-Suriname Basin and, crucially, off the coast of Venezuela. The Dragon gas field, a project meant to bring Venezuelan gas to Trinidad for processing, is now held hostage by this new aggressive posture. This agreement was a delicate piece of diplomacy, a bridge built with careful hands. The government has now taken a sledgehammer to that bridge. How can Maduro’s regime, or any successor, ever trust a nation that has openly invited its greatest adversary to use its soil for an attack? We have not just jeopardized the Dragon field; we have torched our reputation as a reliable, neutral partner. The economic fallout will be severe and lasting. The Ukraine of the Caribbean The parallels to Ukraine are not hysterical; they are a sober warning. Ukraine found itself caught between the expansionist ambitions of NATO and a resurgent Russia. It became a buffer state, and then a battleground. Our government is now actively placing TT in that same, terrifying position. We are being transformed from a peaceful, independent nation into a forward operating base for the US in its escalating cold war with Venezuela and its allies, namely Russia and China. This makes us a primary target. Our infrastructure, our ports, our energy installations, our communication networks, are now potential military targets in a conflict that is not ours. The government has lit a match next to the proverbial powder keg of regional tensions, and it is our homes that risk catching fire. Betrayal of Caricom and common sense Furthermore, the government’s arrogant dismissal of Caricom, “each member state can speak for themselves” is a betrayal of every principle of Caribbean solidarity. Our strength has always been in unity. By fracturing that unity, we isolate ourselves. When the storm comes, as it inevitably will from this reckless decision, we will face it alone. No foreign power, however friendly it seems today, will ever put TT’s interests before its own. This is not safety This is not a strategy for safety; it is a suicide pact signed without the consent of the people. The crime crisis is real and heartbreaking. But the solution is not to replace local gangs with foreign navies. The solution lies in addressing the rot within: a corrupt and inefficient judiciary, a struggling police service, and deep social neglect. A US nuclear submarine in the Gulf of Paria cannot fix a broken witness protection program or a backlogged court case. The government asks us to trust them. But they have given us no reason to. They have made a decision of monumental consequence without parliamentary debate, without public consultation, and without a clear-eyed view of the dangers. They have not made us safer. They have made us a target. They have not solved crime; they have elevated us to the world stage of conflict. They have not protected our future; they have mortgaged it for a pat on the head from Washington. We must demand they reverse this course before the first foreign boot ever touches our soil for a purpose other than peace. Our sovereignty, our safety, and our survival depend on it. The post Illusion of security appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.