By: Staff Writer
July 7, 2026
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness along with Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, have made their sentiments clear during the recent CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting being held in St Lucia this week that they are against the re-appointment of the regional body’s Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett.
In a July 5, 2026, letter sent to the newly appointed CARICOM chairman and St Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip J Pierre, Prime Minister Holness wrote that the “length of time devoted to this agenda item attests to the gravity and potential ramifications of the issue at hand”.
He said Kingston’s position reiterates one taken on May 8 and that this new letter “will expand on the concerns expressed regarding certain procedural matters”.
“I reaffirm, at the outset, that Jamaica is not by this letter seeking to overturn the decision taken in February 2026 to reappoint Dr Carla Barnett as Secretary General of CARICOM. However, I remain concerned that the approach taken has neither resolved the matter nor promoted the spirit and goals of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas,” he noted.
Similarly, Trinidadian authorities have announced they will not attend any future CARICOM meetings until they are satisfied with the process for reappointing Barnett.
“Trinidad and Tobago maintains the position that the matter of the reappointment of the secretary-general is of grave importance and should be openly and transparently discussed by all heads of government, not a select few, at an appropriately scheduled meeting with a pellucid agenda. Trinidad and Tobago, therefore, declines to attend any meeting proposed until Trinidad and Tobago is furnished with the relevant information requested in previous missives issued to your good self,” the government announcement noted.
The government announcement also stated the country will not recognize Barnett’s position after her term ends in late August, citing the process as “surreptitious, corrupted, and flawed.”
Persad Bissessar opposes the Secretary General due to a formal complaint she filed with Barnett in 2022. It concerned the capture of a Trinidadian businessman by Barbados police. She said at the St. Kitts meeting that Barnett had not acknowledged her letter, apparently because she was in opposition at the time.
Trinidad, through Foreign Minister Sean Sobers and Persad Bissessar, claims its delegation was disinvited from a retreat to discuss the reappointment of Barnett because they understood only heads of government were allowed to attend.
Persad Bissessar posted on social media a memo from Drew stating that the retreat was for heads only and apologizing for the inconvenience. Meanwhile, Drew maintained that Sobers cited seasickness as the reason for not attending the meeting.
This apparent snub created a barrage of angry words exchanged between the government of Trinidad, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis outgoing CARICOM chairman, Dr Terrance Drew.