With a decision expected next week on whether Grenada will permit the temporary installation of U.S. radar equipment on the island, a coalition of 112 Caribbean women’s organizations is urging CARICOM leaders to support Grenada’s potential refusal of the request.
The appeal was made by the Regional Network of Caribbean Women and Caribbean Women’s NGOs, which includes 13 groups from or affiliated with Trinidad and Tobago. Their letter was addressed to CARICOM Chairman and Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness, and copied to CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Carla Barnett, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, and Senate President Dessima D. Williams.
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The U.S. proposal follows Antigua and Barbuda’s earlier rejection of hosting foreign military assets. Washington has requested that radar equipment and support personnel be stationed at Maurice Bishop International Airport in Grenada.
Government sources told Guardian Media that Prime Minister Mitchell was expected to address the radar issue during Parliament on Friday, but the item was deferred. A statement is now anticipated at the next sitting scheduled for Tuesday.
The signatories of the letter—who include leading advocates such as Peggy Antrobus (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Eudine Barriteau (Grenada/Barbados), Marion Bethel (The Bahamas), Crystal Brizan (Trinidad and Tobago), Joan Joy Grant Cummings (Jamaica), Joy Marcus (Guyana), Kimalee Phillip (Grenada), and Maggie Schmeitz (Suriname)—expressed “grave concern” over recent U.S. military operations in the Caribbean Sea.
According to the groups, these actions constitute “egregious breaches of international law” and have already led to the “extrajudicial killing” of at least 32 people, including two nationals of Trinidad and Tobago. They warned that such incursions jeopardize the safety of cruise passengers and sailors, undermine the livelihoods of fishermen, and infringe upon the rights of Caribbean people who depend on the sea.
“These violations threaten our regional tourism industry and the safety of our waters,” the letter stated. “They contravene longstanding commitments to ensure the Caribbean remains a Zone of Peace.”
The coalition acknowledged Grenada’s assurance that any decision will be guided by national sovereignty, public safety, and economic interests—including protection of tourism and the wider traveling public.
However, they rejected the U.S. position that drug and weapons trafficking can only be curtailed through unilateral military action in regional waters.
“The idea that the United States can appoint itself judge, jury, and executioner in the Caribbean is a flagrant violation of international law,” they wrote.
The organizations called on CARICOM governments to defend regional sovereignty and the right of Caribbean people to live free from militarization.
“Our region was shaped by genocide, slavery, and indenture,” they emphasized. “Our independence was built on rejecting systems of violence and domination—and that commitment must continue today.”
Quoting Caribbean icons, the letter reminded leaders of the region’s proud stance on autonomy: as the late Barbadian Prime Minister Errol Barrow declared, “we are satellites of none,” and in the words of the late Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, “we are in nobody’s backyard.”
