Tide Brings Charred Bodies to the Shores of Trinidad and Tobago

Beginning in September 2025, corpses began washing ashore on the northeast coast of Trinidad, the larger island of Trinidad and Tobago, which lies closest to the Venezuelan coast. The first body, found in the quiet town of Cumaná, had facial burns and amputated limbs, with signs of having suffered an explosion, according to a New York Times report from the scene. The report also details a second corpse found days later on a nearby beach with similar injuries, including the loss of a leg.

Trinidadian authorities, through Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, confirmed the bodies had appeared and that their origin is under investigation. However, to date, they have not been identified, and no one has claimed them. At the forensic center in Port of Spain, the Trinidadian capital, no autopsies have been performed, as, according to protocol cited by employees, this requires prior identification.

These discoveries temporally coincide with the start of a U.S. military campaign in the Caribbean, targeting vessels that the Donald Trump administration alleges transport drugs from Venezuela. The Trump administration justifies the operation as a measure to combat drug trafficking, specifically fentanyl, and has privately stated that the strategic goal is to expel President Nicolás Maduro from power; however, no evidence has been presented, and the actions are rejected by the Region and international bodies, which have labeled these attacks as "summary executions."

To date, the attacks have officially resulted in at least 37 fatalities. The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, is the only leader of CARICOM (the Caribbean Community) to explicitly support the operation, arguing it protects her country from drug-related violence.

Trinidad and Tobago Against the Regional Current

The campaign has generated growing rejection. Regional leaders such as the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, have condemned the actions. Petro accused the U.S. of violating Colombian sovereignty by attacking a vessel in its territorial waters and of committing murder, which triggered a diplomatic crisis and led to the recall of the Colombian ambassador in Washington.

Jurists and independent United Nations experts have indicated that these military attacks in international waters against civilians are illegal under international law.

An October 2025 Washington Post report, which included interviews with 20 sources familiar with the routes or the attacks, concluded that the targets are not fentanyl traffickers, but primarily fishermen and smugglers of marijuana and cocaine who supply the local market in Trinidad or are part of routes to Europe and Africa.

This reporting was reinforced when one of the attack victims was identified as Chad Joseph, a 26-year-old Trinidadian citizen. His mother, Leonore Burnley, categorically denied that her son was a large-scale drug trafficker. Relatives of other victims, speaking anonymously, acknowledged minor smuggling activities but denied any link to fentanyl trafficking or the alleged criminal groups cited by Washington to justify the summary killings, such as purported ties to the defunct Tren de Aragua.

Data analysis on drug trafficking conducted by teleSUR contradicts the operational rationale. Annual reports from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) do not list Venezuela as a significant drug corridor to the United States. The U.S. Consolidated Counterdrug Database (CCDB) indicates that around 90% of cocaine destined for the U.S. transits through the Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, not the Venezuela-Trinidad route.

Security experts, such as Garvin Heerah of Trinidad, point out that the island functions mainly as a transit point for cocaine destined for Europe and West Africa, not North America.

Why is Trinidad and Tobago Subordinating Itself?

The Persad-Bissessar government's support for Washington is analyzed in the context of economic interests, particularly the country's need for U.S. investment in its natural gas sector. However, this official rationale is considered precarious because the gas project known as the Dragon Field involves extraction from Venezuelan territory. This project would allow the Caribbean island not only to guarantee its energy sovereignty but also to have an export surplus that would revitalize its delicate economy.

Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that the measure contradicts the majority of countries in the sub-region, which are cohesive in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a multilateral organization that subscribes to the stance of maintaining the Caribbean as a "zone of peace."

Furthermore, Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice, and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, stated that Persad-Bissessar bore "a great deal of responsibility" for the recent aggressions against the boats. Meanwhile, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez accused the Trinidadian government of being a "vassal" of Washington and of lending itself "to the perverse plans of an aggression" against Caracas.

The decision is also resisted by residents themselves. According to local analyst Bishnu Ragoonath, the government "seemed eager to push the matter to the background" so as not to contradict its pro-U.S. stance. In turn, the testimony of Leonore Burnley, the mother of the aforementioned 26-year-old fisherman believed to have been killed on one of the boats, made the front pages of Trinidadian newspapers. “They are judging him wrong. He was not a drug trafficker. Chad was a good boy,” she said.

Nonetheless, tensions continue to escalate. This Friday, it was announced that a contingent of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force will conduct joint exercises in the Caribbean between October 26 and 30. The Trinidadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the destroyer USS Gravely will dock in Port of Spain. This warship, noted for its versatility, has a crew of approximately 300 sailors and is capable of performing various missions, including anti-air, surface, and submarine warfare, and is equipped with a 5-inch gun and vertical missile launch systems. The communiqué also reported that the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit will conduct joint training with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) during the same period.