PM Kamla Accuses Political Rivals of Protecting Drug Mafia

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has intensified national discussions on Tobago’s new U.S.-backed radar system. She accuses political rivals and influential business groups of criticizing the project to protect the illicit earnings of the local drug mafia. Kamla suggests the most vehement critics of the radar system are individuals and groups who’ve profited from uncontrolled drug trafficking into and through Trinidad and Tobago for years. The Prime Minister charges that the surge in anti-American sentiment is a planned effort by those whose financial interests are jeopardized by enhanced maritime and aerial surveillance. Kamla singles out the PNM—accusing it of long-standing connections to narco-financiers and internal paedophilia allegations—for leading this opposition. She underlines that the radar system disrupts trafficking routes that perpetuate gang violence, murders, and smuggling, making Tobago’s borders the most secure they’ve ever been.