Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has explained her decision to withhold information about United States marines installing a radar system in Tobago, saying she believed it would have been unwise to reveal details about a sensitive national security operation.
She emphasised yesterday that the radar system is intended solely to monitor Trinidad and Tobago’s territory and “will not be used for any action on Venezuela”.
She also further defended her reasons for not disclosing information as she said the advantage had been lost because traffickers now knew about the radar equipment.
On Wednesday, the media questioned the Prime Minister outside the Red House in Port of Spain about a United States Air Force C-17A Globemaster III military plane that had landed in Tobago earlier that day.
Persad-Bissessar assured reporters that Trinidad and Tobago was not being used as a base for any potential US attack on Venezuela and said the US marines were assisting with roadworks at the new, unopened ANR Robinson International Airport as well as conducting training.
However, on Thursday when reporters asked about the marines again, the Prime Minister acknowledged that US military personnel were on the sister island conducting radar surveillance and intelligence operations as part of the fight against narco-traffickers.
Asked yesterday why she did not disclose this then, Persad-Bissessar said she did not want to alert criminal networks.
“Since it is a sensitive national security issue which provides for the protection of our territory and citizens, I did not think it was wise on Wednesday outside the Parliament to publicly broadcast to narco and human traffickers as well as other criminals that we were installing a radar. It would be counterproductive to our citizens’ safety,” she said.
She said the “security advantage has been lost” now that the upgrades have been exposed to local and transnational criminals.
As head of the National Security Council, Persad-Bissessar said she authorised the US to install the radar system, noting that Trinidad and Tobago’s existing radar capability is inadequate.
She said the system provides real-time monitoring of the nation’s air and sea space and described it as a critical asset in the fight against crime and narco-trafficking.
Old radar system compromised
Persad-Bissessar said she was “horrified” by what she found within the national security apparatus left behind by the former PNM administration.
According to the Prime Minister, the previous radar system was unreliable, offered incomplete territorial coverage and “was compromised”.
She therefore sought temporary assistance from the US Embassy.
“When we entered Government we found an existing radar system that was functioning sporadically and inefficiently and did not provide cover for our entire territory. Our Coast Guard could not even access data in real time in addition to the system being compromised. I requested assistance for supply of a radar system from the US Embassy on a temporary basis until we could get a permanent replacement for the existing system,” she.
“The radar is solely for the monitoring and surveillance of our territory. The radar is not for use in any action in Venezuela,” she added.
Persad-Bissessar also clarified her comment on Wednesday that US troops had left, saying she was referring to the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) personnel who had been engaged in joint training exercises with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force.
“The US personnel in Tobago are doing work constructing an access road and an area for the radar installation,” she said then.
She noted that about 100 US personnel were currently in the country, though that number fluctuates depending on operational needs.
Farley not on
National Security Council
Asked whether Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Farley Augustine should have been informed about the radar equipment on the island, the Prime Minister said he was not briefed because he is not a member of the National Security Council.
She said, in addition to the Tobago radar, the US would also be assisting with upgrades to radar installations in Trinidad and improvements to military facilities.
Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley—writing on Facebook—criticised Persad-Bissessar’s handling of the matter, stating: “So foreign military aircraft could land at our airport in Tobago without the knowledge and consent of the Prime Minister and once landed they could proceed to install a radar system and the Prime Minister would only find about this after because she thought they were there to build a road at the airport. I guess this is what the US President meant when he referred to us in the way he did. We are earning more of these epithets each day under this government.”
Asked to respond, Persad-Bissessar replied: “Poor fella. Sad to see what he has become.”
The United States has been seeking broader regional co-operation from Caribbean and Latin American nations as it intensifies efforts to curb narco-trafficking.
No-go in Grenada
Earlier this month, Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell disclosed that his government was reviewing a US request to establish radar at the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA).
In a November 4, 2025 statement to Parliament, he said the US had asked for a response by a specific deadline, which Grenada was unable to meet.
He said MBIA is a civilian airport and “not fit to treat with military-type operations,” noting that Grenada has no military and that its co-operation with the US has always been grounded in law enforcement, “…and in the context of our domestic law and the context of international law.”
Grenada is a signatory to ALBA, the Alliance for the People’s Government of the Americas, which has condemned US President Donald Trump and his administration for actions it says threaten the region’s “zone of peace” in efforts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Other ALBA members include St Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia.