From Kamla to the U.S. - SOS

From Kamla to the U.S. – SOS

Jun 26, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

Hard Truths by GHK Lall

(Kaieteur News) – I confess to disagreements with Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Excellency Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Too much under the thumb of the U.S. Reacting too readily to stimuli from DJ Trump. But whatever is said about PM Kamla, she has the interests of the TT people at heart. I wish I could say that of the PPP, Pres Ali et al.

She is faced with a paralysing crimewave of monstrous proportions. TT’s national security apparatus is shorthanded, short of results, short of confidence, and just plain short. So, what does Mrs. Persad-Bissessar do? She leverages the TT-U.S. relationship to protect her people. Not UNC people exclusively, but T&T people. Are PPP Govt leaders listening? Are they embarrassed? They should be. U.S. Navy Seals operating near TT shores. The best for best friends. U.S. intelligence, other assets, no doubt around the hotspots and underworld nests of the Twin Island Republic.

Did Guyana’s Pres Ali get that, absorbed its significance? The TT-U.S. special relationship is leveraged. To solve an intractable, unyielding problem. One at crisis proportions. Crime and crime bosses. Weapons and mentalities to match. Bring out the U.S. Marines. Is it Fourth of July, yet? Can see myself saluting.

Guyana has a crime problem. Guyana has a border problem. Guyana has a porous port problem. Guyana has a gun problem. How many? What type? Whose hands? For what purposes? See what I mean?

The PPP and Mr. Ali are proud to runup the flag (after proper prep, greasing) for visiting American special relationship envoys. Admirals and generals with enough medals and braids to force a cargo plane to abort liftoff. Gunboats and aircraft circling U.S. interests. Exxon and Chevron in their offshore habitats 200 klicks from Guyana’s shores. The Chinese get free security. When the PPP agrees to that (what say does it have?), its protecting PPP interests. Its staying power. Its relationship with Marco Rubio and DJ Trump. Somebody say, please, when the interests of Guyanese have featured prominently in the PPP Govt’s calculus. I help Pres Ali to change that formula. The good news is that it makes he and the PPP even bigger and more beautiful in the eyes of DJ Trump.

Invite the U.S. to send troops to patrol Guyana’s side of its borders with Venezuela. The Venezuelans wouldn’t object. After all, the U.S. is now a major Caracas and Delcy Rodriguez partner. And, Venezuela is about to become the 51^st State of the United States. They said so, not I. Time for a quick aside. If America has Venezuela as its de facto 51^st State, and Venezuela has Essequibo as one of its provinces, that means Guyanese living there are now U.S. citizens. Back to business. With the U.S. as a friend of Venezuela, there’s no need for American military strengths near Exxon and Chevron. Pres Ali should press the U.S. to shift those assets to Guyana’s borders. Unlimited value as a deterrent to Tren and Syndicato presences. The U.S. wins. The PPP wins. Guyanese get to win a reprieve. This can happen, but only if the Ali government is interested in ridding this country of crime. Cronies would have to find a new line of business. If the Ali government has any concern about Guyana gold mingled in that big Brazilian bust, the best prescription is an armed and dangerous American presence in that Roraima area. The PPP would have to sacrifice considerable assets, many interests. Unfortunately for Guyanese, that is too high a price for the PPP Govt to consider. No deal.

Compare to PM Kamla, and one gets an appreciation of how TT is dealing with crime conditions. Understanding dawns of where Guyana’s PPP really is with crime. TT sends an S-O-S. Guyana sends this: shove off. F became s.

(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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GHK Lall, PM Kamla, SOS, Trump, TT-U.S.

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