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Mick­ela Pan­day

Lead­er­ship on the re­gion­al stage car­ries weight. Words spo­ken be­fore the Caribbean Com­mu­ni­ty (Cari­com) are not ca­su­al re­marks; they shape diplo­mat­ic re­la­tion­ships, re­gion­al trust and the cred­i­bil­i­ty of our na­tion.

At the re­cent Cari­com Heads of Gov­ern­ment meet­ing, Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar chose to de­scribe the 2022 re­moval of Trinida­di­an busi­ness­man Brent Thomas from Bar­ba­dos as a “kid­nap­ping.” That de­scrip­tion has now sparked re­gion­al back­lash.