Saturday, 29th November 2025
This is so hard to believe. Who would have thought just a month ago that those of us fortunate to live on the paradise island of Tobago would be preparing for war. It’s not even our war. The Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, the honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has made some sort of deal with the United States of America to use our island as a base for radar surveillance and Lord knows what else, in their aggression against the Venezuelan regime. Apparently, there are hundreds of US Marines housed at a local hotel “to repair our airport runway and build a road”. Why?
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has threatened Trinidad & Tobago if we facilitate an American attack on their country. Our ex-Prime Minister Rowley has warned that if there is any risk to our offshore oil and gas platforms, then the energy companies will remove their workers, and our supply of gas will shut down. This means no electricity!
This scenario has made all of us on the island very anxious. Life goes on, of course, but now people are wondering if to cancel upcoming trips off the island, and others (like our tourists) even to cancel trips to Tobago. I am holding back from booking a couple of holidays planned for next year.
Over the last few weeks, I have been gradually increasing my dry food stocks and other essentials, topping up gas in my car, keeping extra cash handy and so on, in preparing for the worst while praying for the best. I have bottles of water stashed away because no electricity means no water to my apartment. If things escalate, then air and sea transport will likely shut down, and Tobago will be cut off from supplies.
Mr. Trump announced today that Venezuelan airspace is now off-limits to all airlines. He has signaled that there will be a land invasion very soon to arrest Maduro, accusing him of not being the legitimate leader of his country and also of being the head of a drug cartel that threatens American lives. There is a huge flotilla of US navy ships close by, so his threat is very real. I think they are pressuring Maduro to demit office to save his life and avoid a war. The legitimacy of the American actions, particularly of blowing up Venezuelan boats accused of transporting drugs to the USA, is being tested in courts. There is an international outcry against all of this, which is being ignored by the Trump administration.
I spoke to my friend, Z, who is very angry at Trump for his actions and for risking the peace of T&T. I told her that this is not the time for ‘putting your head in the sand’. Something is about to happen, and she better be prepared for the worst. This seemed to scare her into deciding to go shopping tomorrow to stock up on supplies.
Sunday, 30th November 2025
Last night, I had a lovely time liming with friends at the Crown Point Hotel. No one wanted to talk about the ‘war’. There’s nothing we can do about it so we might as well carry on living as best as we can. It’s just depressing and scary to think about it.
K has decided that she won’t go to Trinidad on 9th December in case she gets stuck there. No doubt, many people are canceling travel plans involving our islands. I am worried that J still intends to travel to Trinidad on Tuesday for a few days. Will G come to Tobago on Thursday as arranged?
I had to encourage S to stock up. She has family arriving on Tuesday for two weeks, and then more in two weeks’ time for her birthday. I can’t believe that people are not taking this threat seriously. There will be long lines at the supermarkets and gas stations, if things escalate.
The newspapers and social media are full of speculation as to what is going on. US television news, the BBC, and other media around the world are reporting this as top news. Did THA Chief Secretary, Farley Augustine, agree to the US military presence here? He says he didn’t know about it because he’s not on the National Security Council.
Monday 1st December 2025
More speculation and rumours abound. Trump said that Maduro refused his offer of safe passage out of Venezuela for him and his family, once he agrees to resign. So ‘war’ is expected to start anytime now.
That radar installed at the ANR Robinson Airport is apparently for military use, such as tracking drones and missiles. It would be linked to artillery to respond to such attacks. That makes me think that it would itself be a target. My family and some close friends live very close to the airport! This is getting beyond scary.
Thursday 4th December 2025
More speculation is swirling about who is in control of this radar system, and what influence our country has over any aggressive action arising from its use. What has our PM promised the Americans and what has been agreed in return? How long ago did these agreements take place? Our PM says the marines will be fixing the runway. The reason given for not opening the new terminal over 6 months ago is that the runway needs fixing. Why wasn’t it fixed then? Is this part of a plan forged that long ago, which would be when our newly elected PM met with the US State Secretary, Rubio? After that meeting, she announced that the USA has licensed T&T to continue with our much-needed Dragon Gas Field deal with Venezuela. Of course, since her aggressive, pro-Trump stance, Venezuela has pulled the deal. She must be banking on a change of regime in Venezuela.
Now, the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, is under siege for the extra-judicial killings of over one hundred so-called drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific, particularly in the case where a second missile was launched to kill two survivors of the first strike. The UN has declared this to be a crime. Of course, Trump and Hegseth are putting full blame on the Admiral overseeing the shootings.
Sunday, 14th December, 2025
Things have gone quiet, though President Trump keeps threatening a ground operation to capture President Maduro for narco-trafficking crimes “soon”. I guess the USA really prefers not to have a war and is still hoping for a capitulation ‘deal’. A few days ago, the US captured a huge oil tanker near the Virgin Islands with contraband oil from Venezuela. The ship was on a blacklist, and this move is apparently legal. The USA get to keep the oil.
Life has gone back to normal here, with people making trips between Trinidad and Tobago. I am keeping my hoard of extra groceries topped up, just in case. I will have to confirm my Curaçao trip in early January. The flight from Port of Spain now takes an extra 35 to 40 minutes because of having to avoid Venezuelan airspace that President Trump has declared as off-limits. There has been blocking of GPS over that country which affects planes’ navigation.
Tuesday, 23rd December
Things are heating up again. The Americans captured another tanker and are chasing a third one, which is heading towards Venezuela. This last one is a Russian sanctioned tanker, presumably going to pick up contraband oil. Will the USA tackle a Russian vessel?
Our Prime Minister has finally admitted that the marines are manning the Tobago radar which is very powerful and designed to track enemy missiles and drones. They have built a high wall around the radar site, and a drone photo shows a tent, several toilets and equipment there. There’s a lot of speculation about how many marines there are on the island, from 150 to 300.
Meanwhile, Venezuela has become more direct in their threats to T&T if they are attacked by the Americans, because of our support of their ‘invasion’. They are insulting our PM, calling her drunk and demented, and blaming her personally for our country’s involvement in this ‘war’. The T&T opposition and other leaders are also strongly criticizing her undiplomatic comments about Maduro and also our fellow Commonwealth leaders who are calling for a Zone of Peace.
Saturday, 3rd January 2026
Still recovering from New Year celebrations, we woke up to the news that the USA attacked military sites in Caracas and captured President Maduro. He and his wife are presently on a warship on the way to New York where they will answer charges for drug trafficking and other crimes. The world is stunned by this brazen move.
The Venezuelan Vice-President, Delcy Rodríguez, has been sworn in as their new President. President Trump says that she will comply with the Americans running that country until new elections are held. Mr. Trump promises that major oil companies will move back in and re-establish a thriving oil industry for the benefit of Venezuelans. Venezuelans who have been displaced all over the world are celebrating. We certainly live in interesting times!
I topped up the gas in my car, just in case things go south. Several flights from the USA to Trinidad were canceled by order of the FAA, and one Jet Blue flight had to turn back to JFK. Caribbean Airlines announced that they are operating normally. Life goes on.
Saturday, 24th January
Things have been calm on our islands in the sense that people hardly talk about the Venezuela situation anymore. While no Americans were killed during the kidnapping of Maduro, about a hundred Venezuelan and Cuban military and some civilians are said to have died in that raid. The interim President Delcy Rodríguez is still in control of the country under the direction of the USA. There has been an outcry in Venezuela calling for the return of Maduro and his wife. No mention has been made of any plans for elections.
President Trump announced that the USA received 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela and that some money was paid back to that country from the sale of this oil. To date, seven oil tankers operating out of Venezuela have been seized by the US navy, with America keeping the contraband oil. No more ‘narco-terrorist’ Venezuelan and Colombian boats have been blown up since the arrest of Maduro.
Mr. Trump met with top oil executives recently to discuss their investment in rebuilding the infrastructure of Venezuela’s oil industry, but they appear to think that this is too risky since the country had nationalised their assets twice already. We don’t know how all this affects our Dragon Gas Field deal.
In the meantime, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, María Corina Machado, has come out of hiding to claim that her party is the rightful leader of the country as per their last election. She had won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy back to Venezuela, a prize much coveted by Donald Trump. She shocked the world by presenting him with her Nobel prize medal, saying that he deserved the honour. The Nobel Prize committee promptly stated that this prize is non-transferable, but Mr. Trump seems very happy to possess it.
So, we have a situation where three female leaders with quite different, even opposing agendas, are all sucking up to the capricious President of the United States. Will any of them get what they want? I have a feeling that this story has not ended.
