PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC)—Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the presence of United States military troops in the region has already contributed to a “significant reduction in the trafficking of guns, drugs, and humans” into Trinidad and Tobago, even as the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro warned that the twin island republic’s joint military drills with the North American country could “threaten peace” in the Caribbean.

Members of the US 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) on Sunday began a week-long joint training exercise with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF), with Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar saying that the collaboration reflects the “deep and enduring” security partnership between the two countries.

“The United States’ presence in the region has already contributed to a significant reduction in the trafficking of guns, drugs, and humans into our country. As a small nation facing transnational criminal networks, Trinidad and Tobago benefits immensely from this partnership with the world’s leading superpower,” said Persad-Bissessar, who has strongly supported the Washington’s alleged fight against the illegal drugs trade in the region.

“For too long, our citizens, from the elderly to our youth, and even innocent babies, have been slaughtered mercilessly by brazen criminals who profit from their connections to cartels and narco-terrorists, ” Persad Bissessar wrote on her official account on the X platform.

“Gang violence has erupted into open lawlessness on our streets, with high-powered weapons unleashing daylight terror and claiming the lives of law-abiding citizens,” she said, adding that her government will continue to support the US military action.

She urged citizens to remember the innocent lives lost to gun violence in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Remember their names. Remember their faces. Their memories must fuel our national resolve. To win the fight against organised crime, we must strengthen and modernise our crime-fighting capability. These joint exercises with the United States are a critical step in enhancing the TTDF’s readiness, intelligence capability, and operational strength.

“Our partnership with the US has already achieved meaningful success and together we will continue to press forward until we win the war on crime which has plagued TT and threatens stability across our region. May these exercises further fortify our security and usher in a safer, stronger Trinidad and Tobago. We promised to make TT safe, and we intend to deliver,” she wrote.

But Maduro has warned that the military exercises in Trinidad and Tobago are designed “to seriously threaten the peace of the Caribbean”

“They say they’re going to do it from Monday to Thursday… Well, the people of Trinidad and Tobago will see if they continue to tolerate the use of their waters and land,” Maduro declared.

Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers, speaking at a news conference here last weekend, said the exercise will be “military to military engagement, allowing personnel from both countries to become familiar with each other’s equipment, tactics and techniques,” adding that the exercises will challenge them as well as offering an opportunity to expand their expertise and professional development.

He said that the training will take place “across Trinidad and Tobago in both urban and rural environments with operations scheduled during dusk and after dark “.

Political observers view the US presence in the Caribbean as part of Washington’s efforts to effect regime change in Caracas under the guise of dealing with the illegal drug trade. The US has sent its biggest carrier, the Gerald Forde, into the Caribbean Sea as part of the campaign.

Over the last weekend, the US Southern Command said that “at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organisation.

“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed. The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific and was struck in international waters,” USSOUTHCOM said in a post on X.

The action brings to more than 80 people, including two Trinidad and Tobago nationals, allegedly killed by the US strikes that began in September.

Maduro has accused Trinidad and Tobago of once again authorising “irresponsible military exercises” in waters off the Venezuelan state of Sucre, claiming the drills project a threatening posture toward Venezuela.

Maduro further repeated his longstanding allegation that the US aims to seize Venezuela’s natural resources. “They want to steal our oil. Are we going to let them? They want to steal our gas. Are we going to let them?”.