CARICOM Leaders Meet to Discuss US Radar Request to Grenada

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados –  Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders met on Wednesday and Thursday this week, including a caucus on the United States request to Grenada to allow Washington to install radar equipment and associate technical personnel at the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA), well-placed sources told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, who is on an official visit to Africa, is reported to have briefed his CARICOM colleagues on US request to install a radar in Grenada (CMC File Photo)According to the sources, the caucus meeting took place virtually on Wednesday, which lasted just over five hours and where the leaders received “an update from the Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell,”  who is due back in the region following a visit to Africa.

Grenada has confirmed that the United States had written seeking permission to install radar equipment and associated technical personnel at the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA).

The government said that “any decisions on that matter will be made only after all technical and legal assessments are completed.

“We wish to assure our citizens that any decision taken will be guided by Grenada’s sovereignty, public safety, and national interest, including the protection of our tourism industry, the traveling public, and the country’s economic well-being,” it added.

But former Grenada Senate president and trade unionist, Chester Humphrey and former foreign affairs minister, Peter David, have publicly come out against such a request, with Humphrey saying he is prepared to lead a peaceful protest march.

Humphrey said that the move by Washington is a precursor to launching a military strike against the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela.

David, an independent legislator, said in a statement that while Grenada values its longstanding partnerships with both the United States and Venezuela, any actions taken must be rooted in diplomacy, mutual respect, and regional cooperation.

On Wednesday, the Commander of the United States Southern Command, Admiral Alvin Holsey, met with senior officials of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF)  and according to a statement issued afterwards said the “meeting was cordial and productive, reaffirming the US Southern Command’s commitment to supporting Grenada’s national security efforts”.

Holsey also met with Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne and A United States Embassy statement said the meeting discussed “Caribbean security and the deepening of both nations’ bilateral defense partnership.

“This partnership is integral to the region’s collective efforts to advance Caribbean security and stability. Our efforts to strengthen partnerships in the Caribbean are vital to combat transnational criminal organizations and illicit traffickers who threaten the region and our homeland,” it added.

Since then, there are reports in the United States media that Holsey has resigned his position in a suprise move and comes amidst tensions between himself and the US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth over operations in the Caribbean.

There has been no official statement issued by the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat on the CARICOM leaders meetings this week, but on Thursday, former Jamaica prime minister , P.J. Patterson Patterson described the United States (US) drone attacks on vessels in Caribbean waters as “fundamentally dangerous and a horrible erosion of regional leaders’ commitment to sovereignty in the region”.

Last month, President Donald Trump ramped up US military presence in the Caribbean Sea ordering an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of his effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.

A nuclear-powered attack submarine, additional P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser have also being allocated to US Southern Command as part of the mission.

The United States military has carried out four deadly air strikes in Caribbean waters over the past few weeks against what Washington alleges are Caracas-backed drug traffickers. The Venezuelan government denies the charge, accusing the administration of being a threat to the peace and security of the whole region.

“At our very first meeting in 1972, in Chaguaramus, the four independent countries – Jamaica under Michael Manley, Barbados under Errol Barrow, Guyana under Forbes Burnham, and under the chairmanship of Eric Williams (then prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago) – declared the Caribbean to be a zone of peace,” Patterson told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.

“What we are witnessing is a fundamentally dangerous and horrible erosion of that firm commitment to assert our collective sovereignty in the area. It is a matter which compels the heads of governments in the Caribbean, as a matter of the greatest urgency, to be in consultations and seek to take a common position, hopefully in reaffirmation of that inviolable position,”  he added.

During their inter-sessional meeting on Thursday, the leaders according to a copy of the agenda obtained by CMC discussed the situation in Haiti and regional stability.

According to a statement issued by the Suriname government President Jennifer Greelings-Simons and Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Cooperation (BIS), Melvin Bouva, attended the virtual meeting.

“The CARICOM countries discussed the ongoing crisis in Haiti at length. Suriname expressed its solidarity with the Haitian people and supports efforts aimed at restoring democracy, human rights, and security in the country.

“ Minister Bouva stated that Suriname, within the framework of UN resolutions, is prepared to contribute to further stabilizing measures, in consultation with the government and other partners in the region.

“Attention was also paid to the increasing tensions and security challenges in parts of the Caribbean, including incidents at sea and drug trafficking. President Simons emphasized the importance of peace through dialogue and regional cooperation,” the statement noted.

The state-owned Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) in a story posted on its website, showed Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, alongside the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Sean Sobers, at the virtual inter-sessional meeting.

“During the session, the Prime Minister reaffirmed her commitment to building a safer, stronger, and more productive Caribbean region for all its citizens,” the television station reported.

Persad Bissessar is on record as saying she is “happy that the US naval deployment is having success in their mission,” and that “the pain and suffering the cartels have inflicted on our nation is immense. I have no sympathy for traffickers; the US military should kill them all violently”.