US soldiers depart Tobago
2026-03-24 - 02:33
The withdrawal of United States military personnel from Tobago continued yesterday with the departure of a large contingent aboard an Atlas Air aircraft. The plane arrived at the ANR Robinson International Airport in Crown Point on Sunday night and departed at 8.01 am yesterday and headed for Cuba. The aircraft later touched down at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the US has operated a military base for 123 years. The exit of the US Marines came six days after a US military cargo plane removed the military-grade radar system which had been stationed at the airport since last November. The radar had been dismantled a few days earlier, a move which surprised many, considering that Defence Minister Wayne Sturge said last month that it would be there indefinitely. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had said the radar and accompanying US troops were also on the island to help fight drug trafficking. In December, the police claimed the radar was instrumental in a massive $171 million drug bust in the Caroni Swamp. US soldiers had been regularly spotted at the Grafton Beach Resort in Black Rock, where they were housed for their stay, with access restricted, according to security at the hotel. Persad-Bissessar recently gave the radar a positive rating for its usefulness during the four months it was in Tobago. The presence of the US troops in T&T followed a build-up of US military assets in the Southern Caribbean since August, after tensions heightened between the North Americans and Venezuela. As the rift widened between US President Donald Trump and then Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, T&T’s relationship with the US grew stronger. Maduro was deposed in a US operation in Caracas on January 3 and is now facing drug trafficking charges in the US. On March 7, Persad-Bissessar attended the Shield of Americas Summit in the United States, where T&T joined a US-led military alliance. Guardian Media asked the PM whether she was pleased with what the US troops had been able to achieve since arriving in November, but she did not respond up to press time.