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The prime minister outlined security priorities at the U.N. She also thanked Trump for regional security cooperation efforts.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar used Trinidad and Tobago’s address to the 81st United Nations General Assembly to outline the country’s priorities ahead of its return to the U.N. Security Council for the 2027-2028 term. She said restoring confidence in international institutions would require the United Nations to respond effectively to global challenges while ensuring small developing states have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting them. Her remarks placed transnational organized crime, illicit weapons trafficking, women and children, artificial intelligence and global security among the country’s principal concerns.
Persad-Bissessar also expressed gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump for inviting Trinidad and Tobago to participate in the newly formed Shield of the Americas and the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition. She said her government had strengthened cooperation with the United States and other partners to address criminal syndicates operating across Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region. The prime minister said she remained confident that the partnership would promote freedom, security and prosperity in the region.
Persad-Bissessar said Trinidad and Tobago would bring the experience of a small island developing state to the Security Council and remain guided by the U.N. Charter, international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes. She said the country would seek greater international cooperation to address the movement and diversion of illicit firearms, narcotics and related financial flows, including stronger tracing systems, information sharing and border and maritime cooperation. She also addressed Haiti, saying Trinidad and Tobago supports international efforts to restore security and stability while maintaining that the country’s political future must ultimately be Haitian-led and Haitian-owned.
The prime minister also highlighted emerging technology, referring in her address to “superintelligence” and its implications for international peace and security. She identified cyberattacks, disinformation, deepfakes, autonomous weapons, criminal misuse of artificial intelligence and threats to critical infrastructure as areas requiring international attention, while saying developing countries should have a meaningful role in shaping rules governing the technology. She also called for U.N. reform focused on reducing duplication, strengthening accountability and directing resources toward measurable results while preserving the organization’s work on peace and security, development and human rights. Trinidad and Tobago was elected with 181 votes to serve as a non-permanent Security Council member for 2027-2028.
Sources: Information was drawn from the supplied transcript of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s U.N. address and reporting by Trinidad and Tobago media on the speech.