Guyana, T&T invited to March security meeting with Trump

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 February 2026, 8:31 by Writer

The leaders of Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago – major United States’ (US) allies in the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) – have been invited to a security meeting with American President Donald Trump slated for next week in Miami, Florida.

Guyana’s President, Irfaan Ali told reporters on the sidelines of the CARICOM mid-term summit in St Kitts that the planned March 7 talks would aim to find ways of improving regional security together. “It’s 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,” he said.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who had unabashedly credited the US military for a 42 percent reduction in murders in her country, would also be attending the meeting. “To partner with the US is not to undermine the Caribbean region, but to defend it. T-and-T (Trinidad and Tobago) will continue to cooperate with the U.S. in the best interests of our citizens to drive destabilising and destructive forces out of our country, out of our region, and out of our hemisphere,” she said in her address to Tuesday’s opening of the summit.

Disclosure of the meeting came hours after US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio pledged to CARICOM leaders in St Kitts that every effort would be made to stem the flow of guns from American soil to the Caribbean.

“We’ve also watched with alarm at the level of armament that these groups have. We recognise that many of these groups are buying weaponry from the United States, and that we are committed and continue to work very hard with our law enforcement agencies to shut that down,” he said.

The CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) is already working closely with the US in tracing the flow of illicit weapons to the region. He cited the intertwined relationship between narco-traffickers and other criminals and the acquisition of sophisticated weapons and the money that was being made on America’s streets and the countries through which traffickers operate.

“This is a danger in the countries that they transit, and it’s ultimately a danger to the national security of the United States,” he said.

The Secretary of State, effectively the US’ foreign affairs minister, said the most urgent security threat in the region was coming from transnational criminal organisations, many of whom have funding and power that rival if not exceed that of many of the nation-states that they threaten.

“We have a long history of working together on responding to these challenges, but I think our cooperation will have to grow even deeper and our commitment to it will have to grow even stronger because these groups grow stronger,” he said.

Guyana’s closest security cooperation partner is the US which had last year warned Venezuela of stern action if it had attacked ExxonMobil’s assets in the Stabroek Block or invaded the country.

The US military actively cooperates with Guyana in maritime and air domain awareness, and the Drug Enforcement Administration and other state and federal security agencies provide support and training in areas such as narcotics detection, and customs and border protection.