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A little over a week ago, on 29 November 2025, the Washington Post identified “the Caribbean allies helping the US against Venezuela” and stated that “the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago are hosting US forces and facilities”.
This report formed a stark contrast to our Government’s limited disclosure of even the basic nature of our current dealings with the United States in respect of Venezuela, which realistically is a country with which cross border energy sector relationships remain critical to the future health of our country’s currently sluggish economy.
These dealings with the US no doubt arise out of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).
Fellow columnist, Sunity Maharaj, has set out the scope of SOFA and the role of previous governments in agreeing to it. SOFA, it seems, is a product of both the governments of the Peoples National Movement (PNM) and United National Congress (UNC)—notwithstanding the purported clarification of former Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
Sadly, the two discarded former PNM prime ministers are not giving the PNM, now in Opposition, space to breathe and to re-assess the conduct that caused voters to walk away from the PNM in last April’s general election.
While speculation about Venezuela is rife, Trinidad and Tobago is “on edge”. We are bound to be edgy given our close proximity to Venezuela.
Aruba, 15 miles away from Venezuela is also reportedly on edge. Aruba fears for what might happen to its peak tourism season of 2025-2026, as does Tobago.
My immediate concern is that the Government is not empathetic to the fear of the population. It is difficult to accept that it is totally blocked from explaining the presence of military personnel and equipment that are plainly visible.
Re-assuring disclosures of non-sensitive information might restrain further occurrences of “Frightful Friday” type of behaviour when we just lost it collectively in Port of Spain and part of the East West corridor.
I refer to the widespread panic on Friday 31 October that led to the sudden closing of schools and businesses, traffic gridlock and a rush to groceries and gas stations.
Photo: Office of the President.
Word had spread that members of the Defence Force were allegedly ordered to report for duty at all army bases nationwide on a highest level of alert status, supposedly linked to an attack on Venezuela.
In my view, panic outbursts like that on Frightful Friday might lead us into suffering the kind of wounds that we did during the uncertainties prevalent during the events of July 1990.
On the subject of reassurance, I noted a report on 25 November in the Trinidad Express newspaper that the former head of The University of the West Indies (UWI) International Relations Institute, Dr Anthony Gonzales, believed that details of US General Dan Caine’s recent visit and discussions with the Prime Minister “would benefit the public, and prevent potentially ‘irrational behaviour’ observed in the recent past when some locals believed a US strike on Venezuela was imminent”.
Photo: UNC.
Unless the Government is as pro-active with its communications as SOFA and national security considerations permit, it seems likely that we will be celebrating Christmas hoisted on a sharp spike of fear additional to the pervasive fear of violent crime.
Meanwhile, it is now also feared that even certain commercial banks have been drawn into the spoils system that operates within the state enterprise system when we have a change of Government.
Each new administration cleans house, making room for its own appointees. I first described the sometimes clandestine operations of such a system in a column entitled Interfering Intravenously published in 2002 and have repeatedly raised the need for reform of the failed oversight of the State Enterprise system.
Photo: Sunil Lalla.
I did so as recently as June this year by reference to statements of the Procurement Regulator made in a delayed annual report.
So it will come to pass that in these very uneasy times citizens will still parang and bake but the prevailing uneasiness is contradictory of Christmas cheer.
Recently I saw a residential area protected by a very tall iron electric gate with sharp spikes on top but which had decorative candy cane attached to the spikes. How ironic!
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Martin G Daly SC is a prominent attorney-at-law. He is a former Independent Senator and past president of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago.
He is chairman of the Pat Bishop Foundation and a steelpan music enthusiast.
