This story doesn’t look like it is going to go away for a while…
By News Source Guyana on April 16, 2026
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar has slammed the management of the CARICOM Secretariat as “dysfunctional, dishonest and incompetent”.
In the past two weeks, the Trinidadian Prime Minister has been stepping up her criticism of the management of the regional body following the reappointment of Dr. Carla Barnett as Secretary General.
Persad-Bissessar has questioned the reappointment and has lashed out at the Community, although other CARICOM Leaders have indicated that they stand by the reappointment decision.
In her latest broadside against the Secretariat, Persaud-Bissessar accused the body of hiring friends, party hacks, relatives of politicians and affiliates of region sister parties, who are then placed in managerial positions to maintain the “old boys club order.”
“CARICOMs ideals towards integration, integrity and inclusion are just a smoke screen masking a backroom operation to maintain the decades old business elite status quo and dominance of ‘sister’ political parties with the region. Far from being an inclusive body, CARICOMs operations are frequently hijacked to promote and assist aligned sister political parties to remain in office while excluding those that are unaligned or historically not part of the entrenched political class,” the Trinidadian Prime Minister said.
Persad-Bissessar has been critical of Dr. Barnett’s reappointment at the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in St. Kitts and Nevis last February.
In response to growing criticisms, by Persad-Bissessar, of the process used to reappoint Dr. Barnett, the Chair of CARICOM and Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, over the weekend, provided a detail outline of the events that unfolded in the lead up to, and subsequent to the reappointment of Dr Barnett.
Maintaining that the established protocols were followed, Dr Drew said that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago departed St. Kitts and Nevis on the first day of the conference, ahead of the retreat, and her Foreign Minister Sean Sobers was subsequently informed that he could attend the retreat on her behalf. Sobers, according to Dr Drew, reportedly indicated that he had a problem with seasickness, and may not be able to attend.
It was during the retreat that the Heads of Government present took a decision to reappoint the Secretary General under Article 24 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
But Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar dubbed the appointment “surreptitious, corrupted and flawed.”
She said in an attempt to dismiss the issues raised by Trinidad, a Whatsapp message that was sent to all CARICOM Foreign Ministers on the morning of the retreat (February 26) was omitted.
According to the message sent by the CARICOM Secretary General, the retreat was a “heads only retreat.”
“Notwithstanding any indication otherwise, he would like it to remain Heads only,” the GS said while referencing to the Chair of CARICOM.
Persad-Bissessar said while her country remains committed to CARICOM, her Government will not continue to contribute to CARICOM unless the issue is transparently addressed. She, however, stated that Trinidad and Tobago has fully supported CARICOM over the years and therefore will not be leaving it, but will rather fix it.
Weighing in on the ongoing controversy, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States (OAS), Sir Ronald Sanders suggested that Dr. Barnett should consider tendering her resignation.
“If I were the Secretary General of CARICOM and I’m being quite serious here and this had occurred I would have resigned and I would have resigned because I would have said I must not stand in the way of Caribbean integration and the movement forward,” Sir Ronald Sanders reportedly told Antigua’s state-owned ABS Television.
According to Sir Sanders, who also serves as Chancellor of the University of Guyana, it is clear to him that at least one Prime Minister is not in favor of Dr. Barnett’s reappointment.
“Why am I still there? Because it is clear that I will never enjoy her support and why therefore would I put myself in a situation in which I am now the cause of the rift. If I were Carla Barnett, I would resign now on principle,” Sir Sanders was quoted as saying.
However, President Ali, in an interview with reporters last week, said he was part of the process that led to the reappointment of Dr. Barnett, and he stands by the majority decision of the regional bloc.
Looking to move on from the issue, the Chair of CARICOM said it is hoped that as the Community moves forward, internal mechanisms would be used to address challenges that arise from time to time, “lest unfortunate and erroneous statements diminish the progress towards deepening the integration process for the benefit of the people of the region.”
Source: News Source Guyana