By Staff Writer
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, April 2026, CMC – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar Sunday dismissed a statement issued by the chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Dr. Terrance Drew in which reiterated that Trinidad and Tobago was not “uninvited” to the retreat where a decision was taken to reappoint Belizean economist Dr. Carla Barnett as Secretary General of the 15-member regional integration grouping.
In a statement posted on her Facebook page, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said that the CARICOM statement issued late on Saturday night called for the minutes of the retreat meeting where the appointment took place.
“Where are the minutes of the retreat meeting? Where’s GS Barnett’s performance appraisal? Where’s the documentation of the 2021 appointment process, which is claimed to be the same as the 2026 process? Where’s the other documentation requested in our letter of April 9th, 2026?,” she said in her statement, adding, “Hopefully, the citizens of CARICOM will be provided with time-stamped copies of these documents”.
In a lengthy statement following the meeting of the regional leaders last Friday to discuss the issues in relation to the governance of CARICOM, Dr. Drew, who is also the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, also released 11 pages of the correspondence that had been sent to all members countries leading up to the February 24-27 summit that was held in Basseterre.
He said said that Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar had left the summit on “the evening of the first day of the first day of the Conference, before the Retreat on February 26” and that on February 25, at 10.33 pm “ Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister, Sean Sobers called the Secretary General on WhatsApp to inquire if he should attend the retreat in the absence of his Prime Minister.
He was advised that he could and that other leaders who have had to leave may be represented by their foreign ministers.
Prime Minister Drew said Sobers “indicated that he had a problem with seasickness, so he may not be able to attend”.
Prime Minister Drew said that at 12:37 AM on February 26, the CARICOM Secretary-General sent the following message to Minister Sobers: “Minister, if the boat trip will cause nausea am sure the Chairman would understand if you chose not to come tomorrow.”
The CARICOM chairman said the Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister “did not subsequently indicate to the Chairman or the Secretary-General that he would be willing and able to attend the Retreat”.
Trinidad and Tobago had been calling for a meeting of CARICOM to deal with the re-appointment of Barnett, insisting that it was “deliberately uninvited” to the meeting where the agreement had been reached.
Sobers had said last week that Port of Spain would be seeking a meeting of CARICOM to challenge the reappointment and that fresh elections could also be placed on the table. The meeting was held on Friday, and neither Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar nor Sobers attended the virtual meeting.
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar had already condemned the “surreptitious and odious process” used regarding the reappointment of Barnett, saying it could have long-term effects for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
In her latest Facebook page on Sunday, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said, “According to CARICOM’s own documents posted last night, between January 19th and February 26th (39 days), eight messages were sent to T&T regarding the soon-to-be legendary CARICOM shirt, but zero messages were sent regarding any agenda item to reappoint GS Barnett.
“Clearly the shirt was of utmost significance and importance but the reappointment of the GS of CARICOM was not,” she said, adding that CARICOM had also chosen “to intentionally leave out a response to a most important aspect of our letter: the notification via WHATSAPP at 8:56 am on February 26th, 2026 (the actual day of the Retreat), from the CARICOM Secretariat that the Retreat was for Heads of Governments ONLY and subsequent confirmations from the Chef de Cabinet Janice Miller”.
“Good morning, Foreign Ministers. Chairman PM Drew has indicated that today will be a heads-only retreat. Notwithstanding any indication otherwise, he would like it to remain Heads only. He apologizes for any inconvenience. Ministers should therefore remain for the Community Council Meeting to complete its work, including those agenda items from the Heads’ agenda which Community Council is to consider and provide recommendations to Heads for adoption,” Persad-Bissessar said in the WhatsApp message.
She asked when “will Barnett and Miller address this WhatsApp message which was sent to foreign ministers, including Minister Sobers, that was verified by our Director of CARICOM?
“At best Minister Sobers was disinvited because he had no fancy CARICOM shirt, at worst he was disinvited to deliberately facilitate Ms Barnett’s surreptitious reappointment process,” Persad-Bissessar said, adding “even their own email from Chef de Cabinet Janice Miller dated 22nd February 2026 states that the retreat is only for heads of government which contradicts their position that Minister Sobers was invited”.
Persad-Bissessar said that any progress towards deepening the integration process is being “diminished by the continued aversion to transparency regarding this surreptitious, corrupted, and flawed process used to reappoint GS Barnett.
“The deliberate attempts to avoid accountability but instead willfully and publicly smear my Minister of Foreign and CARICOM affairs, Sean Sobers, will continue to be met with public responses from myself and my government,” she said.
“I again call on the CARICOM secretariat for the requested documentation that was itemized in Minister Sobers April 9th, 2026, letter to be provided,” she said, adding that a certain “Charles could help you all on the next Facebook post to smear Minister Sobers”.
CMC/pr/ir/2026