As US warships prowl the Caribbean, our region must hold fast against Trump’s gaslighting

American attacks have killed more than 14 people they claim were drug traffickers in our waters. Now our islands are at risk of being dragged into a manufactured conflict we are ill-equipped to endure

For decades, the Caribbean has been caught in the slipstream of other people's wars - from cold war proxy battles to Washington's war on drugs" and war on terror". Our islands have too often been turned into the frontlines for policies scripted elsewhere but fought in our waters, our communities, and on the backs of our most vulnerable.

The recent US naval strikes against alleged drug boats" leaving Venezuela, and the decision of Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, to grant access to territorial waters without first consulting the Caribbean collective of developing countries, Caricom, risk dragging our islands into yet another manufactured storm.