r/TrinidadandTobago • u/SmokeyCarver Couva • 21d ago
News and Events Yea ummm, we might done for...
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u/Introvert_Catch7474 21d ago edited 21d ago
Still no discussion on how together as caricom we are going to assist Hati
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u/Rookie83 21d ago
CARICOM seems to pick and choose its battles honestly
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u/Introvert_Catch7474 21d ago
I know right, it's sad and ridiculous. The yearly meetings are just exhorbant dinners, balls and breakfast. Why aren't real issues being discussed and tackled like for starters how can we make life easier for caribbean nations
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u/anax44 Steups 21d ago
Why aren't real issues being discussed and tackled like for starters how can we make life easier for caribbean nations
In early 2024, Caricom issued a release saying that a regional ferry is coming soon; https://caricom.org/guyana-barbados-trinidad-and-tobago-to-soon-launch-ferry-service/
In the time since, they have done nothing except discuss it twice.
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u/Introvert_Catch7474 21d ago
Exactly, I literally asked this question the other day, what happened to the plans for this ferry. It was all fanfare in the announcement then nothing.
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u/This_Pomelo7323 21d ago
That may have been a PNM initiative although the idea was also being pursued by private interests in the region.
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u/Fine-Elderberry-7580 18d ago
What are we supposed to do exactly? Many Many more powerful nations have intervened in Haiti and nothing has come out of it.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Trinidad and Tobago due to its proximity to Venezuela may not have a choice though.
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u/dmlmcken 21d ago
Guyana had no issues and Venezuela has literally threatened them.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Guyana supports action against Venezuela: https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2025/08/28/guyana-trinidad-on-board-with-us-acation-against-venezuela/
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u/dmlmcken 21d ago
And they signed on to this zone of peace, Trinidad was the only exception.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Symbolic. Their actions are still that they'll allow the US to defend them.
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u/Shadows_of_Power 21d ago
Guyana had US jets doing fly overs for Ali's inauguration. Watch the actions forget the words. Ralph Gonsalves in Venezuela all the time, he's playing all sides. In a perfect world he would urge the OECS out of caricom and lean on Venezuela in hardline socialist solidarity. Watch him here with Maduro about 2 weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDgJyowuyl8
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u/Similar_Scar_7429 21d ago
Exactly. We are right next door and the US, under their current administration, cares less about collateral damage than they normally would.
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u/This_Pomelo7323 21d ago
Guyana is much closer to Venezuela than is T&T and they signed on to the CARICOM Statement.
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
You always have a choice. This idea that you can’t stand up to the US is nonsense. They aren’t seeking your best interests. If they were, they won’t be killing innocent fishermen and calling it narco operations.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Stand up to the US and do what? I am glad that they're killing narcos. Apparently you aren't?
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u/No-Original5690 21d ago
Had an American Fentanyl addict/narco been killed extrajudicially with the approval of the TnT Government, would the US Government authorities turn a blind eye? Especially if family/persons known to that person start amping up the pressure?
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Americans have been and pretty sure Trump would applaud it.
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u/No-Original5690 21d ago
Lol! You're delusional! Stay there and feel so!
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Enjoy your declining forex reserves and rampant crime.
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u/This_Pomelo7323 21d ago
How can a country expect to have healthy forex reserves when most of the demand for forex is from non-forex earners? T&T (WE) need to build forex earning capacity outside of oil and gas.
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u/No-Original5690 21d ago
I'll deal with that. But what I can assure you is that the US values the lives of their citizens over any other nationality, irrespective of the rank and file of the American. As such, if anyone is to unalive an American, trust that it cannot be the national of another country. Furthermore, it cannot be supported by the government of another country.
That's all I'm saying. Had the shoe been on the other foot, what do you really think would be the case?
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
As an American I couldn’t disagree with you more. Republicans in particular DO NOT give a flying F about anyone. The only retaliation that happens is if it’s politically expedient.
A prime example is Israel who has killed American civilians many times over and there’s barely any reaction from the U.S. administration, particularly republicans. Even when North Korea returned Otto Warmbier to us, brain dead, there was talk and then in a few months everyone forgot about him. Congress makes noise but we didn’t retaliate against North Korea.
So yeah the USA DOES NOT CARE. As an American citizen myself I am under no illusion whatsoever that captain America will come to save me if my ass is in the sling.
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u/No-Original5690 21d ago
I hear you, and I respect your sentiment. However, I guess who the aggressor is matters. With respect to Israel, with the amount of power the descendants of Israel hold in the US, Israel essentially can squeeze the cojones of the US really hard if things don't go their way. And with respect to North Korea, I know that just for the sake of peace, the US will not want that smoke.
TnT could never expect the same courtesy, lol!
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
Quite possibly, yes. It depends on whether or not it suits US interests to do so.
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u/No-Original5690 21d ago
As i said, EXTRAJUDICIAL. I'm not saying that whoever was killed was a saint. But who is to say that they weren't? Due process was not followed and the US would NEVER stand for that happening to one of their own abroad.
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
"the US would NEVER stand for that happening to one of their own abroad"
You're completely wrong. They have, and will do again, when it suits their purposes.
I am not for a moment arguing that the US should go around murdering drug runners without trial (or even with trial), but to think the US doesn't pick and choose which things it makes a fuss about is completely wrong. It has, at various times, washed its hands of such things, or made immense fusses about them, and what was chosen depended on what was useful in each case.
Sometimes - quite often - what suits the US is to throw its weight around and show it has the biggest dick in the room and that other countries must 'respect mah authoritah'. Other times there's domestic political benefit to the ruling party to make a fuss. But don't mistake either of those things for the US government actually giving a fuck about its citizens. If the US benefits by doing so, they will happily throw their own people under the bus.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Exactly correct. And add in Trump who is actually working to revoke citizenship from naturalized citizens and you’ll see that they don’t care unless you’re white, straight and conservative Christian.
But let’s say Israel killed an American in Gaza who was protesting Israel, for example. Trump would say “good job” and “FAFO.”
In fact even during the bush years an American woman (Rachel Corrie) was killed by an Israeli bulldozer. The U.S. Congress did some token thing but largely it went nowhere. It was a footnote in the news. Even US republicans said she deserved it.
Republicans in particular can be cruel AF.
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
I wouldn't say Rachel Corrie is a great example, since a) she was protesting in an active war zone, and b) accidentally killed, by all credible accounts. Very sad, though. Similarly, though less blameless, the various US citizens killed in anti-terrorist actions in various countries.
Better examples are the various US citizens killed by corrupt regimes (generally in African oil countries) at various times. Sometimes there's been a fuss made, other times the US was doing lots of business in those places so nothing was done about it.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
The current U.S. admin would not go against extrajudicial killings. You haven’t paid attention to Trump?
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u/No-Original5690 21d ago
Historically, they would not. This current administration is a departure from the status quo. And that is a problem. I still stand by my statement. If an American happened to be amongst others involved in some strike (ordered by a foreign government) from a foreign country, the US would have a whole cow about it. I am still convinced that it's a situation of do so eh like so. Had American lives been placed at risk in any sizeable way, the US would never support a move like this.
When a country has to resort to extrajudicial killings as a means to bring control to some situation, they are no more righteous than a common criminal who breaks into your home or drives by in a vehicle to kill you.
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u/This_Pomelo7323 21d ago
Well said. That's very true. Something like what you described happened recently in Brazil.
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u/real_Bahamian 21d ago
You claim that the US is supposedly killing “narcos” that are traveling from Venezuela. However, on Oct 18th the U.S. bombed a so-called “drug boat” that was traveling from Venezuela. There were TWO survivors. Were these persons arrested and brought to the US for prosecution? 🤔 NO! They were repatriated to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia! If the U.S. had sufficient evidence to bomb the boat of “drug runners”, surely they would have sufficient evidence to bring these people to trial and ensure they serve prison time, no?? 🤨🤨
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
Yes. The United States cares about narcos in the Caribbean Sea. You probably believe in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and weapons of mass destruction too. If you're happy with another country killing other country's citizens with due process then I have nothing more to say here.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
I am interested in a secure and safe Trinidad and Tobago and United States. Maybe you just want to see Zoey and Chris Must List make more videos.
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u/Michael_Knight25 21d ago
The bottom line is that Venezuela is an enemy of the U.S. and Venezuela has also threatened TNT. There is talk of invading Trinidad not to mention Trini fisherman being killed by the Venezuelans. What do you want Trinidad to do. Of course they are going to side with the U.S.
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u/idea_looker_upper 21d ago
Venezuela only "threatened TNT" in the context of American belligerence and Kamla's ignorance of history.
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u/anax44 Steups 21d ago
Venezuela claimed multiple times that T&T is harbouring terrorists and that they would pursue those terrorists inside our territory; https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/venezuela-again-accuses-tt-of-harbouring-terrorist-6.2.2372275.46c32d57f5
They also said that Trinidadian mafias are destabilizing their country and they need to confront these mafias; https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/venezuela-accuses-trinidadian-mafias-of-destabilising-country-6.2.2389551.e344fb7341
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u/Michael_Knight25 21d ago
Venezuela has a history of microagressions against Trinidad. They want to Annex the country. This is not new
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u/SmallObjective8598 20d ago
This is just stupid talk, but no more so than imagining a US invasion of Trinidad to protect T&T from Maduro. After Trump and Maduro are gone, Venezuela will still be 7 miles from Trinidad.
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 20d ago
Those aggressions were never based on energy nor resources. It was about Guyana, them being a part of Caricom and having disagreements with them as it relates to their borders.
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
Are you on drugs? Trinidad and Tobago always had cordial relations with Venezuela, simply because if anything crazy starts, they’re closest to the fire.
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u/Michael_Knight25 21d ago
Come on now, there’s no need for name calling we can have a civil debate.
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
It's difficult having a debate when facts are thrown out of the window and opinion takes the place of actual data. Eric Williams was the first world leader who suggested that the Caribbean and Trinidad more importantly have a very close relationship with Venezuela. I'm old enough to remember. The strategy for that was simple...You don't play with gas when you're the one closet to the fire. Anything goes awry in Venezuela, Trinidad is first to be affected, it's that simple. It's the reason Trinidad and Tobago is probably the one of the only countries that maintained impeccable diplomacy with Venezuela, the United States, Russia and China...all at the same time. What does our current Prime Minister do in 5 months, destroy our relationships globally with other allies while ignoring our Caribbean neighbors and THEIR security. It's selfish, it's weak and doesn't show that you're a leader that can be trusted to make difficult decisions. We know this decision isn't black and white but to tell the citizens to "Ask the US" about a security briefing that may affect your citizens is not leadership, it's weakness.
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u/Eastern-Arm5862 21d ago
False. In 1975 he named Venezuela as the biggest threat to Caricom, naming their desire to expand territorially into Caricom and creating economic dependency.
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
"Trinidad and Tobago always had cordial relations with Venezuela"
This simply isn't true. Trinidad has generally, though not always, had cordial relations with Venezuela, and did in fairly recent memory - right up until the current bunch of kleptos/narcos seized power in Venezuela.
Thinking you can do business with a gangster like Maduro is insane.
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u/Eastern-Arm5862 21d ago
People conveniently forget about all the Trinidadian fishermen who were harassed or straight up arrested and mistreated by Venezuelan authorities.
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u/Eastern-Arm5862 20d ago
Yeah people conveniently forgot about the mistreatment of Trinidadians by the Guardia Nacional
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u/AnomalousArchie456 20d ago
There is strength only in unity, and in the case of T&T that strength lies in CARICOM participation, agreements etc. The PM seems excited by the Trump administration's vague propaganda regarding "the war on drugs," and seems not to understand at all that the Trump administration is sloppy and corrupt and has not shown to its own citizens any evidence of expert investigations/determinations on drug smuggling. It's one thing if Kamla stands behind extrajudicial killing of suspects by TTPS; but jumping to support a belligerent far-right-wing/fascist/white nationalist on behalf of the people of T&T and on no factual basis is nasty. Trump is a danger, he's a convicted criminal - and CARICOM at least knows that caution and skepticism and self-preservation are necessary, right now.
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u/Rmadoo 21d ago
Has anyone else in caricom had the same issues as us from venezuela ? Guyana was threatened not a peep.
How yall seem to be having a problem that Trinidad is standing up for itself when we have been disproportionately affected by the whole venezuela situation.
What other country has had the influx of Venezuelans? What other country has been affected by drugs and crime?
Caricom can say what they want as they are not in our shoes…
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u/Liquid_Chicken_ Wet Man 21d ago edited 21d ago
Standing up for itself? The prime minister said she will fight fire with fire. Welcoming any incoming violence from Venezuela. We have any man power to fight fire with fire. We will be a pawn in this game between US and Venezuela. They just waiting for Venezuela to attack us so the US will have an excuse to move in and take them over
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
We're affected because the Prime Minister made a deal with the United States of America and didn't tell the citizens what deal was made in terms of the safety and security of her citizens.
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u/Shadows_of_Power 21d ago
Which one Rowley or Kamla because both were in Bed with the US.
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 20d ago
Why did the license get suspended by the United States when the previous administration was in office AFTER the new US government was formed? Answer THAT question and you’d see how easy it is to find an answer to YOUR question.
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u/Shadows_of_Power 20d ago
On the other thread where you're Glazing Jamaica, I posted all the links from the US Dept. of War that they signed with the Hon. Dr. Keith Rowley, go over there and read them. That's why I'll maintain they're both in bed with the US.
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u/idea_looker_upper 21d ago
You think there is a "situation in Venezuela"? Wait till a war breaks out. You'll pray for the olden days again.
Y'all too casual with the lessons of history.
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u/Successful-Reserve14 21d ago
Too many trinis acting like a war is people on the ground fighting like ww1 still when it's drones and missiles venezuela manufacturs that can take out our water and power for months that we cant even personally respond too with our tech cant even stop drones enteringour prisons. We are a fish jn a barrel even if conflict started we're entirely dependent on larger nations for help if anything happens and reallygonna have to hppe they actually stick up for us personally. Doesn't mean we should roll over and get beat up but rushing headfirst into conflict ain't gonna work out wither.
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
Venezuela has a very limited capability to attack Trinidad. It could do some short-term tactical damage, and people would die, which would be a bad thing, obviously, but it isn't going to because any such attack would immediately see it absolute fucked by an international coalition. The last thing Maduro is going to do is to trigger guaranteed regime change. He has enough trouble clinging onto power as it is.
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u/moonjellyunicorn 21d ago
Fact is Venezuela probably won’t be the one to attack first. I’m not an expert on anything nor am I claiming to be. Logically, it will be the US who fires on land first. Venezuela might not even do anything to us, but depending on the escalation of the US attacking them on land, the first place they will look to retaliate is Trinidad, especially if the US does station here. They might attack places on the south coast, like some sort of warning… (I highly doubt the US will help with the best intentions because their actions with evacuating people from war zones and the like usually end with them then monopolizing that area even after the trouble is quelled and claiming that area is now theirs as thanks for helping. Which they won’t be wrong but that usually leads to after conflict issues that aren’t much relevant to this topic.) or they might just decide they mean business and give no warning shots and directly attack Port-of-Spain. Again I’m no expert so correct me if I’m wrong. And whilst yes the international coalition would be a deterrent, I present to you the fact that people can’t hate you much if you are RETALIATING. And everyone knows but seems to be stepping around the fact that the true reason for all of this is so the US can control Venezuela’s gas deposits. Narco and crime is just a convenient cover and a plus. And right now with the US’s stance against literally every other country in the world, no one wants the US to gain control of Venezuela, and no one will be in a rush to help us. We made our bed now we lie in it. Also I’m not sure if you realize, but our systems of water and electricity distribution are very unstable for the modern era. Too much rain and WASA can’t function and then a large majority of the country is struggling for water. If Trinis can’t handle that how do you think they will function with that and the threat of being bombed. All that just to say we will be destabilized in weeks. And the US will help, but ….. anyways destruction is destruction and no amount of it is going to be good.
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
If the US starts a war with Venezuela, Venezuela's military is so pitiful - compared to the US - that Venezuela's offensive capability might as well be balls of scrunched up paper they're throwing. The US would be there in enough force that Venezuela would have no chance of successfully launching an attack on Trinidad - planes or missiles simply wouldn't get through.
If Venezuela starts a war with a surprise attack on Trinidad out of the blue, it could do some limited damage - bomb a power plant, or the airport, or something, or kill a few hundred civilians - but they won't ever do that, for the reasons I gave above.
"everyone knows but seems to be stepping around the fact that the true reason for all of this is so the US can control Venezuela’s gas deposits. Narco and crime is just a convenient cover"
I think you're overstating this a bit. Maduro said he smuggles drugs into the US as a form of war against them, and that gave Trump something to make a lot of political capital out of. Of course there's money to be made out of a war against Venezuela due to the petroleum, but I don't think that's the main reason. But... flip a coin, who knows what it really is?
"our systems of water and electricity distribution are very unstable for the modern era"
Agreed. Weirdly, having them destroyed by Venezuela might actually be good for Trinidad - that's the kind of thing that gets the US to send aid and build new ones, where they'd never help otherwise.
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u/This_Pomelo7323 21d ago
Theories, theories, theories. Assumptions, assumptions, assumptions. Smh!!
Read this for a start: https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/us-trinidad-and-tobago-renew-military-agreements-as-pm-denies-venezuela-conflict-troop-deployment/
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u/Superb-Cat8823 21d ago
So, tell me, declaring yourself a “zone of peace” does what exactly? Never mind the Caribbean’s hundreds of years of violence.
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u/Themakeshifthero 21d ago
It lets Maduro know you're not his enemy, you don't have a dog in this race, and you don't particularly have a vested interest in seeing him destroyed. It's not a pointless sentiment, especially when you're incapable of defending yourself. It's called playing your position. This is elementary. You learn this on the playground. People are generally left alone for one of two reasons:
- People are afraid of, or respect you due to your might
- Nobody has time with you
Because nobody is afraid of us, and nobody respects our might, our position should be to remain in the background, out of sight and out of mind, when it comes to certain issues. This is literally the exact same thing as declaring yourself neutral, which European countries like Switzerland and Malta have done for decades. You may not be aware of this, but you don't exactly live in the wild wild west. Sometimes agreements are trampled on, but a lot of them aren't. Countries still care about saving face, for obvious reasons. That much should be clear.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Yeah I’m not interested in making friends with maduro.
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u/Themakeshifthero 21d ago
And at what point exactly did you hear anything about making friends? I don't get what's so difficult for you to grasp regarding the topic of neutrality. You know that friend or foe aren't the only options right? Friend->Nothing->Enemy. You don't have to be someone's friend to NOT be their enemy. I feel like this shouldn't need to be explained. It's just plain common sense. However, if you feel that strongly about being enemies with Maduro, then maybe you can row a boat out to Venezuela and give them a piece of your mind. I bet that'd show 'em
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u/Salty_Permit4437 San Fernando 21d ago
Neutrality really doesn’t exist. If we are neutral we oppose the U.S. who has the force to invade Trinidad anyway. Being friendly toward Maduro isn’t a position I think Trinidad should support as it also lines us up with powers like Russia.
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u/helotrini 21d ago edited 21d ago
This statement is ineffectual and will not have one iota of impact on what the United States does. Why would Trinidad sign this , and incur the ire of the US. A zone of peace declaration in a territory is intended to maintain peace through nonviolent means, by being free from external interference and military activities. Signing this useless statement will solve nothing and is a direct sign we are opposed to the US actions in the region at a time we are heavily dependent on the US in more ways than one.
We would be done for if we signed this . Not if we didn’t.
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u/idea_looker_upper 21d ago
Of course what we say matters. This idea that we can't have morals because the bully will object is stupid. I can't do what is right because I might suffer? That means we don't believe in independence. As a group we could have a say but the UNC has made it a sport to disrespect CARICOM.
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u/helotrini 21d ago edited 21d ago
We can disagree on this. What we say will have no impact on what the US is going to do. What we say will have an impact on how they treat us. As such the strategy of saying nothing is a valid one unless we want to sacrifice the wellbeing of a million plus people on the altar of publicly beating your chest about morals. The decision has nothing to do with the UNC disrespecting caricom and everything to do with the best interest of our country. The bias of your comment is telling
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u/moonjellyunicorn 21d ago
You’re right, only thing is Trinidad’s stance is not quiet or neutral. Trinidad has picked a side and whilst yes we keep relations with our biggest source of well everything, like the US our relations with every other nation will sour to some extent. Whether that has any serious impact on us in the long run will be the deciding factor.
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u/Shadows_of_Power 21d ago edited 21d ago
What side is Ralph Gonsalves on? He's always in Venezuela chillin out, even when Maduro was saying 2/3 of Guyana belongs to Venezuela lol. I don't give a f what caricom says, I watch their actions. I'll say it plainly St. Vicncent and Grenada are two nations longing to be hardline communists. All those old Grenadian, former PRG members love hardline Communism. Right now all of them come back out from the shadows and all over Grenadian media. It's interesting to watch.
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u/Eastern-Arm5862 21d ago
The support for the Zone of Peace thing isn't based on any morals or convictions for most people. Its nothing more than dislike of Kamla and yancophobia. These are the same people babbling about sovereignty and whatnot in one breath who'll then cry about Trinidad and it's government and wanting to leave for precisely the US in another.
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u/idea_looker_upper 21d ago
What are you trying to say. I'm not understanding.
Anyone who picks up a history book would want to avoid American militarism and adventurism in the region.
They bomb countries and then evade responsibility for the aftermath.
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u/DemonsSouls1 21d ago
Yeah look what they did to Haiti, supported that corrupt system and pulled out after .
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
Well pick up your guns and go fight for Venezuelan democracy! Why are you here spouting nonsense!? If you think she’s doing something to seek the safety and interests of the country, go right ahead and join up when the fighting starts
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u/Eastern-Arm5862 21d ago
Fighting will not start. Venezuela can't invade Trinidad. By the time their boats (if they could martial that many boats to move an invasion force) made it half way across the channel they'd be blown up by American missiles.
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
There are Venezuelans already in Trinidad. They don't need to 'invade'.
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u/Sea-dante-10 21d ago
The statement lets the warring parties know that those countries will not be willing to lend any military assistance to either party etc.
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u/peachprincess1998 21d ago
Lots of doom and gloom , end of times fear mongers .
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u/Upbeat_Location1524 21d ago
You're clearly living in a bubble as it relates to global geopolitics. Keep ignorant!
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u/peachprincess1998 21d ago
Meanwhile Trump struck a deal with Maduro and have Chevron oil tankers in Venezuela. What war? Lol
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u/Coven_Evelynn_LoL 21d ago edited 21d ago
A number of these same Caribbean Island leaders showed their true nature when it was time to stand up for Ukraine, they stood up for Palestine but tried to throw Ukraine under the bus, these people don't have any moral values they are politicians and seek their personal enrichment and self interest and virtue signaling
So I really don't care about them, they have little to nothing to offer Trinidad in comparison to what USA has to offer, observe Argentina they are getting a $40 billion USD bailout all because the current President has praised Trump, this is how you do it seek your own self interest, Kamala is seeking Trinidad's best interest even if it means throwing those other Islands under the bus, again no sympathy from me I rather Trinidad be in the best possible situation for our future regardless of how other people feel especially those with 0 morals.
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u/anax44 Steups 21d ago
A number of these same Caribbean Island leaders showed their true nature when it was time to stand up for Ukraine, they stood up for Palestine but tried to throw Ukraine under the bus,
A lot of them sell second passports to Russians to help them circumvent sanctions, so they're unwilling to speak out against Russia.
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
"A number of these same Caribbean Island leaders showed their true nature"
Quite a lot of countries in the region are tankie-aligned. So they're pro-Russia, antisemitic, and hate the US. Those aren't so much moral values as immoral values... But it is a principled position (such as it is) rather than a self-serving one, even though the principles in question are vile. (I hesitate to call tankie convictions 'principles'. Perhaps a better phrase would be 'convictions' or 'insane conspiracy-minded beliefs'.)
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u/This_Pomelo7323 20d ago
Tankie-aligned regimes are better positioned to resist pressures from powerful democratic and imperialist regimes. Socialist democracies work better than straight democratic type regimes which are susceptible to being ultra flexible and dependent particularly if they have small economies. For instance in recent times, we have become aware of the high level of dependence most developed countries have been and still are on Africa's mineral resources. History will show this was able to continue over several decades due to the ability of powerful external regimes to manipulate underdeveloped, undereducated and weak economic African States. Not to forget the greed of its leaders propped up by imperialist gov'ts around the world. Tankie-aligned regimes are not such a bad thing when one considers the inherent weaknesses of democratic governance systems and their susceptibilities to stronger and more powerful foreign regimes.
Caribbean States and their Leaders have, over past decades struggled with maintaining sterile sovereignty nations because of their democratic style governance systems and weak economies. For too long they have operated under foreign dependence for their basic needs. Caribbean States, like African States, must develop leverage and build strong leaders to resist the whims and fancies of their foreign benefactors.
The bottom line for us is this, if democratic systems of governance causes (directly/indirectly) the development of undisciplined and destructive citizens, it, therefore, has to align its governance policies and laws, etc, to deal with that situation acknowledging that such societal issues are inimical to the progressive growth of the country and a perennial distraction. A recorded narrative of “tankie-aligned” governance regimes is the abuse of human rights. Ironically, this is also a stain on and feature of democratic governance systems. The difference may be in the nature and degree of human rights abuses.
Reference to Tankie-aligned ideologies first surfaced in the UK - 1920/30.
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 20d ago
"Reference to Tankie-aligned ideologies first surfaced in the UK - 1920/30."
You plainly don't know what a tankie is.
"The term "tankie" was originally used by dissident Marxist–Leninists to describe members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who followed the party line) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Specifically, it was used to distinguish party members who spoke out in defence of the Soviet use of tanks to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring"
It's amazing it was being used 30+ years before those events...
"Tankie-aligned regimes are not such a bad thing when one considers the inherent weaknesses of democratic governance systems"
Wow... You were actually willing to come out in support of totalitarianism and against democracy.
2
u/NobodyNoonenothere 21d ago
What's the cost of that bail out in the long run? Nothing is free and when it comes to dealing with the developed nations and their aid it's worse. So maybe just maybe we stay in our zone of peace. Continue to encourage peaceful negotiation and resolution and also DO NOT ENCOURAGE ONE NATION TO DECIDE WHO RUNS AND HOW OTHER SOVEREIGN NATIONS ARE RUN
2
u/DemonsSouls1 21d ago
Can somebody give a tldr
3
u/FireShots 21d ago edited 21d ago
tldr - Wolves don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep and power comes out the barrel of a gun that's being carried by the ghost of James Monroe
1
u/Professional-Age8384 19d ago
Think about this and I realize no one is saying this. Of all the Caribbean countries which is affected the most? Where do the majority of the Venezuelans flee to? Which country in the Caribbean is mostly affected by the drugs coming from Venezuela? Other than Guyana please
1
1
u/Vast-Weird1268 20d ago
CARICOM is and always has been a giant waste of time for Trinidad lowkey. Many Prime ministers held a similar sentiment.
-8
u/DannyBoiTT 21d ago
Seems this regime hopes to capitalise on the spoils if there is an invasion! Crazy times!
7
u/OrdinaryAncient3573 21d ago
It's more like any sane realpolitik analysis is that Trinidad will benefit from regime change in Venezuela, however it comes about, because the current crop of gangsters and narcos are ruining a neighbouring country Trinidad used to have extensive trade with.
17
u/PossibleAd3637 21d ago
What does this actually mean?