Caricom Heads of Government are convening an urgent emergency meeting today to address an escalating diplomatic rift sparked by Trinidad and Tobago’s formal protest over the manner in which the reappointment of Secretary General Carla Barnett was handled.
The meeting, originally scheduled for April 7 but delayed due to state funeral proceedings for former Suriname president Chan Santokhi, is set for 2 pm, with Caricom chair and St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew expressing hope for the participation of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The dispute centers on allegations from Port-of-Spain that the reappointment was not a formal agenda item during the 50th Heads of Government meeting in St Kitts and Nevis in February.
However, in a detailed defence of the bloc’s protocols in a letter to Persad-Bissessar ahead of the meeting, Drew moved to dismantle claims of procedural ambiguity, insisting that all member states were fully briefed on the schedule for plenary sessions, caucuses and the exclusive Heads-of-Government retreat where the decision was finalised.
“As the attached Timeline of Communication sent to Member States on the Fiftieth Meeting of the Conference shows, all Member States were duly informed of the Programme of Events and the Draft Agenda of the Meeting, including which Agenda Items were programmed to be taken in Plenary Sessions, in Caucus, and in the Retreat of Heads only,” Drew stated in the letter, a copy of which Guardian Media has obtained.
The chairman emphasised what the granular level of preparation involved, noting that even the official Caricom shirts for the retreat were tailored to measurements supplied by each leader’s office, including that of Persad-Bissessar.
While the specific reappointment of Barnett was not explicitly named as a line item, Drew argued that it fell under the standard governance protocols discussed at the retreat.
“The Programme of Work for the Retreat included the following two Agenda Items of the Conference: 11. Geopolitical Developments and 12. Financing and Governance of the Community, the latter which would normally include matters related to finance and operations of the Secretariat, and any other matters any Head of Government may wish to raise.”
Drew also highlighted that Persad-Bissessar departed the federation on the evening of the conference’s first day, missing the crucial retreat on February 26. He revealed that an invitation was subsequently extended to Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers to represent T&T but the offer was declined.
“I considered it important for Trinidad and Tobago to be present at the Retreat, so I inquired whether your Foreign Minister would be able to participate. He declined an invitation to attend the Retreat, citing personal issues with using the water taxi transit, which is a standard mode of transportation in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. He indicated that he feared he would get seasick,” Drew wrote.
The chair insisted the reappointment was conducted transparently and in accordance with Article 24 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. He noted that while Secretary General Barnett “was not in the room during the discussion of this matter,” multiple attempts to contact Persad-Bissessar privately following the decision were met with silence.
“The Meeting also agreed that I should delay the announcement so as to inform, as a matter of courtesy, the Heads who were not able to be present at the Retreat, before the official announcement was made. I attempted to reach out personally to each of these Heads of Government, by email and telephone calls, to inform them of the decision taken but was unable to speak with you. I did not receive a response from you to my email and, after some delays, I was informed that I should speak with your Foreign Minister.”
Expressing concern over the “public domain” release of letters and statements on what transpired during the Caricom session, Drew urged a return to internal diplomatic channels.
Guardian Media reached out to the Prime Minister’s office to confirm her attendance at today’s emergency session but no response was received up to the time of publication.
