Displaying items by tag: Trinidad and Tobago

A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Trinidad and Tobago following a surge in gang violence which left over sixty dead in December, pushing the year’s murder toll to 623 - the highest in over a decade. Rival gangs are locked in a brutal territorial war, with recent shootings targeting gang members and innocent bystanders. National security minister Fitzgerald Hinds called the violence an ‘epidemic’. Authorities have deployed increased police and military forces, empowered to conduct searches and detain suspects without warrants for up to 48 hours. The dual island nation, strategically located for narcotics trafficking, faces significant challenges from over a hundred active gangs. A previous gang ceasefire collapsed, escalating killings fuelled by alliances with smaller groups. Despite the tension, schools, businesses, and other activities such as the New Year’s celebrations will go ahead as planned. Another Caribbean island, Barbados, is recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl: see

Oil leaking from a capsized barge off Tobago's coast has spread hundreds of miles, reaching the island of Bonaire. It is now regarded as a serious threat to both humans and the environment. The barge, of unknown ownership, ran aground on 7 February, for reasons which are unclear. Investigations suggest it had previously stopped in Venezuela, and possibly was leaking oil from 3 February. Trinidad and Tobago declared a national emergency on 11 February, with ongoing efforts to contain the spill. Satellite images showed the slick extending into Grenada's marine area by 14 February; now the east coast of Bonaire, including vital ecosystems like mangroves, fish, and coral, has been contaminated. There is particular concern for the mangroves, which are among the best preserved in the Caribbean. Despite efforts at containment, oil continues to leak from the barge.

Until a week ago, Enrique Ceballos was a high court judge in Venezuela. Now, because of threats around his work as a judge, he is waiting on a plastic chair outside an NGO-run registration centre for asylum-seekers in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, along with his wife, son, and daughter. ‘I needed to rule in favour of the government,’ he said. ‘It’s really difficult to work like that.’ Over 1.6 million Venezuelans like Ceballos have left the country since 2015, leaving behind a crumbling economy and a political crisis that has triggered shortages in food and healthcare. Hundreds of thousands are in Colombia, others in the Caribbean - a few kilometres from Venezuela’s coast. Venezuelans are often helped to apply for asylum and to integrate by Christian NGOs, as the soaring numbers have taken small island governments by surprise.