Byron Blake | The United States armada and climate change

Unprovoked military actions and the unrelenting consequences of global climate change present immediate, existential challenges to the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The crucial question now facing the region is whether it possesses the political cohesion, diplomatic agility, and collective fortitude required to navigate the turbulent geopolitical and environmental waters that lie ahead. The lack of a unified response to recent events suggests a worrying fragility in the CARICOM integration project, threatening not only its diplomatic standing but the very survival of some of its nations.

MILITARY DEPLOYMENT

In August, the United States deployed its largest and most formidable naval force to the Caribbean in over six decades. This armada reportedly includes eight advanced warships, such as the guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and USS Sampson, as well as the nuclear submarine USS Newport News. According to financial news outlets, at least five of these vessels are armed with land-attack Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The official justification for this massive deployment – counter-narcotics operations – strains credulity. The sinking of two small boats, allegedly carrying drug runners, does little to explain the presence of such overwhelming and costly military assets. The scale of the force, featuring nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, is wholly disproportionate to tackling drug trafficking, leading to the conclusion that the stated rationale is a pretext for an unprovoked and unprecedented show of force in the region.

This situation stands in stark contrast to previous US military activities. When the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in October 1962, newly sovereign nations like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were in no position to influence a superpower confrontation. However, since the establishment of CARICOM in 1973 and its commitment to foreign policy coordination, the Community has consistently advocated for the Caribbean to be recognised as a nuclear-free ‘Zone of Peace’.

This position has been actively pursued through resolutions in regional and international forums, including the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN). It has been the basis for strong protests against attempts to transport nuclear waste through the Caribbean Sea.

While significant US naval assets have been deployed in the past – for example, “Operation Uphold Democracy” in Haiti in 1994, anti-drug initiatives in the 1980s and 1990s, and extensive humanitarian relief after natural disasters – these were largely conducted with regional consultation and collaboration. The glaring exception was the 1983 invasion of Grenada, Operation Urgent Fury, which proceeded with the active support of at least four CARICOM states but was met with significant internal protest and division.

GRENADA PRECEDENT

The 1983 Grenada invasion serves as a powerful historical precedent for the dangers of a fractured CARICOM. The collaborating states attempted to pre-empt dissent by calling for an emergency meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government. The meeting, held in Trinidad and Tobago, was fraught with tension and unspoken agendas.

It concluded with a superficial decision for mediation, yet just days later, Prime Minister Eugenia Charles of Dominica appeared alongside President Ronald Reagan in Washington to announce the invasion. While this gave the United States a veneer of Caribbean support, the episode exposed a deep and damaging rift within the Community, born from a lack of transparency and unified purpose.

FRIGHTENING SILENCE

The current crisis mirrors the divisions of 1983, but perhaps with more alarming implications. In the weeks following the 2025 deployment, and despite the re-election of a CARICOM Chairman, there has been no emergency meeting and no joint statement from the community.

This silence is made more troubling by the unilateral actions of Trinidad and Tobago, which publicly broke ranks to support the US deployment and sinking of a small vessel on September 3 – the latter, an act which, given the military disparity, could potentially be judged a war crime in the future. This public dissent, made without any apparent effort to consult with fellow member states, signals a departure from the ideal of foreign policy coordination and highlights the pitfalls of a fragmented approach.

COORDINATED DIPLOMACY

An opportunity for CARICOM leaders to confer in the margins of the opening of the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 9 was seemingly missed. It is now imperative that they convene, even virtually, before the high level general debate that begins on September 23. This debate, themed “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development, and human rights,” is the ideal platform for a forceful response by a unified CARICOM.

Beyond the immediate military threat, the region must coordinate its position on the parallel existential crisis of climate change. The UNGA’s agenda frames this issue as one of “scaling up financing for adaptation.” While important, this focus distracts from the far more urgent priority for CARICOM: mitigation. The Community’s paramount interest lies in securing binding commitments for immediate and drastic actions to halt global warming and reduce temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

It is the solemn responsibility of the CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica, to lead the development of these coordinated positions and to champion them unequivocally at the UNGA and the November COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil. Failure to act decisively and collectively on either the military or climate front will do more than signal a weakening of CARICOM integration; it will jeopardise the physical security and economic viability of its most vulnerable member states.

Ambassador Byron Blake is former deputy permanent representative of Jamaica to the United Nations and former assistant secretary general of CARICOM. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com