Guyana & Irfaan Rewarded for close ties with USA on Geo-Security

Mar 06, 2026 Letters

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Dear Editor,

President Irfaan Ali and TT PM Kamla Persad Bissessar (and by extension their nations) have been rewarded with invites to Americas Shield Summit with President Trump in Miami on March 7 for their support on Washington regional foreign policy; the duo are the only CARICOM leaders invited to the summit that will feature eight other Latin leaders plus Trump.

They also had private one on one meeting with Secretary Rubio. It is a feather in the cap for both leaders and elevates the importance of both nations in the region. Their invitation is a win for TT and Guyana as it could strengthen security and cooperation with U.S. resulting in greater political stability and consolidation of our democracy. Irfaan has learned from the lessons of the cold war during which Guyanese endured 26 years of authoritarian rule for criticising USA and of the Independence Day attack on the American Ambassador in 2012 resulting in the 2015 election outcome. When this writer championed closer ties with USA, he was ridiculed and condemned for having a colonial mindset. Without closer ties with USA, Guyana will find itself in trouble. Irfaan is smart to tie up with Trump.

The invitation to the duo was extended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on behalf of Trump in private separate meeting with each on the sideline of the 50th CARICOM summit in Basseterre, St. Kitts last week.  The leaders of these nations have been invited as guests of President Trump because of diplomatic and foreign policy alignment with Washington. The event will be held at one of the President’s hotels, Doral.

Americas Shield is an initiative of President Trump. It is so called because it seeks to shield nations from a variety of problems devastating to their economies and populations. It is a strategic program designed to address pressing threats (tied to drugs and national security) across Latin America and the Caribbean. The summit concentrates on regional security, with the goal of stopping the flow of drugs and fostering trade with USA that will lead to prosperity.

One strategy behind the Americas Shield Summit is to get leaders to support American plan to dismantle and eliminate transnational drug trafficking groups operating throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Also, US is concerned about the growing footprint of China in the region. So, another goal of the summit is to actively counteract and limit the expanding economic and political influence of China across the region. Trump is aggressively reinforcing the historic Monroe Doctrine to keep out outside powers like China and Russia, asserting a more proactive U.S. role in regional stability, using force to promote American dominance pre-eminence in the region, dubbing it the Dunroe Doctrine.

Previous American Presidents like Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan, etc. had specific programs for LA and Caribbean to address issues impacting on American geo-security. America seeks closer ties and alliances.

The invitation to and participation of President Irfaan and PM Kamla signals their deepening engagement with Washington and sends a powerful statement to the rest of the region – if you work with USA against transnational crime and on regional security, you will be rewarded. Those two nations were also rewarded on immigration matters. It is recalled that Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago were not sanctioned by Washington last year among CARICOM; migrant visas of nationals of these two countries have not been suspended unlike for the most of the  rest of the region. They have also been rewarded with soft loans for national development.

For Guyana and T&T, participation in this summit marks a definitive step in cementing their ties with Washington and playing a meaningful role in the U.S-led security bloc. PM Kamla and President Irfaan have sent a clear message of unwavering allegiance to and cooperation with USA.

At Basseterre, PM Kamla told reporters the invitation to T&T and of her presence at the Miami summit will be “for the benefit of the people of T&T on security, trade, prosperity and of safety”.

President Irfaan said he looks forward for the meeting. He told reporters: “This is a meeting dealing with security matters, it’s dealing with some of the challenges in the region, and to see how we can coordinate better in relation to those challenges.”

The presence of Irfaan and Kamla signals their countries’ commitment to the security of the region and of their own nations, ensuring a stable and predictable partnership with the U.S. Among other invitees are Presidents Javier Milei of Argentina, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, Santiago Peña of Paraguay, José Raúl Mulino of Panama, Rodrigo Paz of Bolivia, Nasry Asfura of Honduras, Rodrigo Chaves of Costa Rica and his successor President-elect Laura Fernández, among others. As a commentator put it, it is a coalition of ideologically aligned nations, allies of the U.S. Once we remain tied to the U.S., we will benefit.

Yours faithfully

Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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• CARICOM, geo-security, Kamla Persad -Bissessar, Letters

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