00:00Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessa says there is a rot within CARICOM that needs to be addressed before it implodes.
00:08Trinidad and Tobago's government, she says, does not bind itself to the political ideologies
00:13or foreign economic and security policies of any other CARICOM member government,
00:19and CARICOM will not determine the future of TNT, only its citizens.
00:24She says member governments are free to make decisions in the best interests of their citizens and called CARICOM an unreliable partner.
00:33On Saturday afternoon, the Prime Minister said she's taken note of a statement issued by the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM,
00:42which expressed concern about the restrictions the U.S. government recently placed limiting foreign nationals' entry from Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda,
00:52citing national security concerns.
00:55Passat-Bissessa says she wishes to advise citizens that the Republic of TNT is not a party to that statement issued by CARICOM.
01:04And while she acknowledges the right of the Bureau to express its views,
01:08the Trinidad and Tobago government maintains its own position, which is
01:12to recognize the sovereign right of the United States to make decisions in furtherance of its best interests.
01:19She says the exercise of power by the United States must be seen as a measured response
01:25to the conduct of other nations in the realities of the current environments that they place themselves in.
01:33Quote,
01:33End quote.
02:01The Prime Minister says beneath the thin mask of unity, there are many widening fissures in CARICOM
02:08that if left unaddressed will lead to its implosion.
02:13The organization, she adds, is deteriorating rapidly due to poor management,
02:18lax accountability, destabilizing policies, private conflicts between regional leaders and political parties,
02:26and the inappropriate meddling in the domestic politics of member states.
02:31She believes CARICOM cannot continue to operate in this dysfunctional and self-destructive manner,
02:38as it is a grave disservice to the people of the Caribbean.
02:43Cindy Ragubar, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
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