Kamla’s complaint

Feb 28, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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(Kaieteur News) – At the 50th Regular Meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government held in St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (KPB) used her address not only to talk about regional issues like free movement and migration, but also to criticise CARICOM for its lack of responsiveness over a specific extradition-related incident involving a Trinidadian citizen, businessman Brent Thomas.

Persad-Bissessar reminded the CARICOM gathering of the 2022 incident where Brent Thomas was arrested in a Barbados hotel and returned to Trinidad and Tobago without formal extradition proceedings.  Instead, he was flown out on a military aircraft. She described that action as a “kidnapping” and noted that Trinidad and Tobago’s Supreme Court ruled the abduction unlawful. She criticised that this significant matter had been largely disregarded by the CARICOM Secretariat when she had raised it previously.

Persad-Bissessar stated that as Opposition Leader at the time, she had written to the CARICOM Secretariat about the incident but did not receive any reply, suggesting to her that the regional body was dismissive and that this raised questions about how seriously CARICOM takes violations affecting its citizens.

The Prime Minister of Barbados later rebutted part of KPB comments, arguing that ‘kidnapping” was a strong word and defamatory. She also said there was a need to look at certain legal procedures including a CARICOM Arrest Warrant.

It is understandable that Kamla Persad-Bissessar would feel strongly about an incident involving a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. Any national leader — or political leader — would want answers where rights and sovereignty appear to be at stake. However, it is unreasonable to expect a formal response from CARICOM in the circumstances she described.

CARICOM is a community of sovereign states.  Each member country remains fully independent. The Community itself, including the Secretariat, does not have authority to intervene in the internal affairs of a member state unless those states formally place a matter before it.

Regional bodies operate through governments not through individuals, even prominent ones. When Persad-Bissessar raised her concern, she did so as Opposition Leader. While CARICOM could take note of her comments, it could not act on them. The Secretariat does not have the power to launch inquiries or mediate disputes based on correspondence from opposition politicians. It acts only on instructions from member governments.

There is also a legal and diplomatic principle at play: non-interference. If CARICOM had inserted itself into an extradition or law enforcement matter without a formal complaint from one member state against another, it would have risked overstepping its mandate. That could have been seen as interference in domestic processes. Regional organizations must be careful not to undermine the sovereignty of their members.

In most regional groupings around the world, similar limits apply. For example, disputes are typically addressed only when one government formally raises an issue through established mechanisms. Without that trigger, the organization remains neutral. This protects the integrity of both the member states and the institution itself.

In the past, CARICOM was often criticised for not intervening in allegations of election rigging in Guyana, particularly during the period 1973 to 1985. However, CARICOM did not become directly involved because it had no legal authority to do so. The conduct of national elections falls squarely within the domestic jurisdiction of each sovereign member state.

In 2020, CARICOM became involved in mediating the post-election impasse in Guyana, but it did so under very specific circumstances. The key difference is that the sitting government at the time, led by David Granger, formally consented to an offer to help resolve the impasse.  That invitation provided the legal and diplomatic basis for involvement.

Therefore, while Persad-Bissessar was entitled to express concern, expecting a formal response from CARICOM misunderstood how regional institutions work. The Community is not an umpire over domestic legal controversies. It is a platform for cooperation among governments. If a government believes another state has violated regional norms, it must raise that issue formally. Without such action, CARICOM’s silence is not neglect, it is adherence to its mandate.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• Brent Thomas, CARICOM, complaint, Kamla, Peeping Tom

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