Tag Archives: UNC

In light of the announcement last Tuesday of yet another state of emergency (SoE) I feel compelled to restate a main theme of these columns. We have barely advanced positively in politics or in governance and little ever changes, even after a general election at which we vote out an …

“Trinidad and Tobago could only progress if Laventille does,” Winston Dookeran said in May 2010. Have we moved beyond this idea? Have we accepted that crime is not a group problem? It is not an “Afro problem”, an “Indian problem”, or a “PNM problem”. Crime is a national problem, and …

There is reason to be concerned about current trends towards the promotion of authoritarian rule in Trinidad and Tobago. The Commissioner of Police (the CoP) vehemently sought to dilute accountability for the fatal police-involved shooting of a citizen seen in a video emerging from a crashed vehicle after a chase, …

From the first US strikes against small boats in Caribbean waters in September 2025, military intervention in Venezuela was not a matter of if, but when and how. Those questions have now been answered. In all this, the world’s surprise at the bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of president Nicolás …

“[…] The entitlement, indiscipline and misdirected priorities of some lawless citizens who inconvenience and endanger law abiding citizens will not be tolerated anymore. No discipline will be met with no tolerance. “No one will sway me from cleaning up this lawless dump to benefit citizens who try to live decent …

“[Critics] suggest that a caring state relies on education, while a punitive state relies on force. This binary view, however, obscures the reality of how safety and civil order are actually maintained. “[…] The assertion of law is not an abdication of care. On the contrary, it is often the …

“[…] What happened in Venezuela has nothing to do with Trinidad and Tobago. Citizens, just like myself, went about our normal business. We are not involved, so citizens have no need to be bothered. “[…] Trinidad and Tobago does not covet Venezuelan property—we never have and we never will…” The …

“[…] In medicine, we abandoned the idea of humiliation as therapy a long time ago… If we treated heart disease the way we treat traffic offences, we would simply fine people for eating fried food and call it prevention. Ridiculous? Exactly. “Punishment alone is not prevention—it is abdication. Humiliation teaches …

Kamla Persad-Bissessar: “[…] Trinidad and Tobago is NOT a participant in any of these ongoing military operations. Trinidad and Tobago continues to maintain peaceful relations with the people of Venezuela.” Pennelope Beckles: “[This is] a matter of serious concern for Trinidad and Tobago, Caricom, and the wider Caribbean… We place …

Christmas is over and the New Year, 2026, is just ahead. Writing a column for publication today was stressful. This is different from times past when, despite the governance failures of the months preceding Christmas and misgivings about the coming New Year, “the time for putting smoke in the kitchen” …

There have been recent announcements that will disrupt the output of the Carnival sector and its interconnected networks of employment and economic diversification. Additionally, another recent round of terminations of state enterprise steelband sponsorships will disrupt music education, youth and community development. The Prime Minister has declared prohibitions on the …

“[…] It is clear that this Administration, having outsourced its decision-making with respect to relations with Venezuela, has not learnt from or are not aware of Henry Kissinger’s warning—though uttered in a different context—that: ‘it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.’ “[…] …