Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 12/12/2025 10:43

Pirates of the Caribbean

ON DECEMBER 4, the White House released its so-called security strategy, in which it announced its intention to “reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere.” On December 10, Donald Trump showed the world exactly what that means, announcing the unprecedented seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Administration officials said the vessel was involved in transporting sanctioned oil to Iran; but Mr Trump could not say for sure what would be done with its cargo. Venezuelan politicians decried “an act of international piracy.” It’s a frightening but foreseeable escalation. The Trump administration’s dramatic disclosure of its seizure came just as it faced intense pressure over its campaign of summary executions at sea. The two things cannot be disconnected. The US president seeks to turn attention away from the possible commission of war crimes to fresh questions about the nuances of maritime law. The US military’s kinetic strikes on small boats have thus far been unconvincingly explained by officials citing the need to fight “narco-terrorism.” But now the waters have been muddied by the suggestion that the actual goal is addressing Iran’s influence in the region and by suggesting, without irony, that the issue is one of law and sanctions. Meanwhile, if Mr Trump’s secret agenda is regime change in Caracas, that is by now the worst-kept secret in the world. Similarly, if this is all just about Venezuela’s oil, that aim, too, has been poorly disguised. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s December 9 attempt to deflect from the moral questions at the heart of the Trump administration’s boat strikes, which may or may not have killed citizens of this country, by resorting to a superficial discussion about flags and piracy expresses a tension between immutable values and political expediency. Ms Persad-Bissessar asserts the “US is a sovereign nation and they are free to exercise their sovereignty.” Yet, in statements to this newspaper on November 10, she indicated the newly installed US radar in Tobago helps to detect Venezuelan crude oil sanction-busting activities. That would suggest that far from being separate from the sovereign affairs of others, TT is now directly involved in the enforcement of US sanctions policies towards our closest neighbour. Thus, this week’s developments draw this country, willingly or not, into the quagmire that now exists between the illegitimate and undemocratic regime of Nicolas Maduro and the machinations of the Republican Party. Expect more bacchanal. As Mr Trump finds himself against the wall on a range of worsening fronts, including his mishandling of the scandal involving convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, he will continue to raise the stakes in the Caribbean Sea for the benefit of his supporters. The post Pirates of the Caribbean appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.