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Amid escalating military tensions in Caribbean waters, former Heads of Government across the region issue an extraordinary joint statement urging diplomacy, restraint, and the preservation of the Caribbean’s legacy of peace.

By Ricardo Brooks | Times Caribbean
Published: October 24, 2025 | 8:27 AM
Category: Regional Affairs | Current News

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In an unprecedented display of regional unity, ten former Caribbean Heads of Government have jointly called for the Caribbean to reaffirm its standing as a “Zone of Peace”, warning that the current geopolitical tensions between the United States and Venezuela threaten to drag the region into “conflicts not of our making.”

The rare, coordinated statement comes in the wake of U.S. military strikes in Caribbean waters, which Washington insists targeted drug and gun smuggling operations. But for the region’s elder statesmen — including Jamaica’s P.J. Patterson and Bruce Golding, Barbados’ Freundel Stuart, Belize’s Said Musa and Dean Barrow, and former leaders from Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, and St. Lucia — the timing and scale of these operations are deeply troubling.

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A Call for Calm Amid Unrest

The joint appeal, described by diplomats as “unusually urgent,” urges a pullback of military presence and reaffirms that peaceful coexistence and mutual respect must remain the bedrock of Caribbean diplomacy.

“When Caribbean leaders gathered at Chaguaramas in 1972 under Dr. Eric Williams’ chairmanship,” the statement recalled, “peace was accepted as a dominant factor in shaping our social and political framework. That principle must not now be eroded.”

The signatories expressed alarm over reports of nuclear-powered vessels and aircraft operating in Caribbean airspace and waters, emphasizing that the region “must not become the stage for confrontation.”

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Tension Within CARICOM

Noticeably absent from the statement are any former prime ministers from Trinidad and Tobago, a country whose current administration under Kamla Persad Bissessar has broken ranks with CARICOM, openly supporting the U.S. strikes.

Prime Minister Persad Bissessar has defended her position as a necessary stance against transnational crime, declaring earlier that “forcefully confronting drug and gun smugglers is the only way to protect our true zone of peace.”

However, her hardline rhetoric — including a controversial call to “kill them all violently” — has drawn sharp regional criticism. At least 30 people, including two Trinidadian nationals, have been reported killed in recent U.S. air strikes in the Caribbean Sea.

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Defending Sovereignty and International Law

In contrast, the former leaders’ statement underscores that international law and dialogue, not “war and military might,” must guide conflict resolution. They reaffirmed the Caribbean’s historic opposition to foreign intervention or regime change, citing the UN Charter and the region’s “proud tradition of independence and self-determination.”

They also invoked the Shiprider Agreement — a controversial U.S.-CARICOM security pact — as an example of cooperation that respected sovereignty while ensuring law enforcement coordination.

“The safety and livelihood of our people are imperiled by any act or utterance that threatens the norms of international law or undermines our sovereign territorial rights,” the statement cautioned.

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A Sea at the Crossroads

Analysts warn that the Caribbean Sea, the region’s economic lifeline through trade, tourism, and fishing, could quickly become a flashpoint for global rivalries. The former prime ministers stressed that the sea’s strategic importance should make peaceful navigation and cooperation a shared regional priority.

“The Caribbean Sea is central to our existence,” their joint statement declared. “It must not become the stage for confrontation.”

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Unity in Purpose

In closing, the ten leaders issued a solemn reminder of what’s at stake:
“Preserving our Caribbean space as a zone of peace is for us a vital imperative. Our shared history and common interests demand oneness. We have gone too far to turn back now.”

Their collective call resonates across a region once celebrated for its diplomatic neutrality and moral leadership on the world stage — a legacy now tested by modern tensions between power and principle.

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