Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency after weekend of violence | Global development

On By Littum

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has declared a state of emergency after a weekend of violence in the two-island Caribbean nation took the number of murders this year to 623.

Five men were shot overnight in a property on the outskirts of the capital Port of Spain, and a 57-year-old woman was shot dead on Friday as she picked up her teenage son from hospital in San Fernando.

In a population of 1.5 million, the unprecedented figure for 2024 makes Trinidad and Tobago one of the most violent countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Under the emergency powers announced by Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s office, the police and army have widespread authority to detain individuals without charge and search properties without warrants.

In a statement, Rowley said he was disappointed by the 2024 homicide tally and appealed to police to use their new powers to make life “uncomfortable” for criminals.

At a press conference in Port of Spain, where Rowley’s absence was criticized by local media, Attorney General Stuart Young said no public curfew would be imposed at this time.

Young said the measures had been introduced as a result of a week of “brazen actions” by criminals in the country and that there was an expectation of a wave of reprisals on a “scale so extensive as to endanger public safety”. .

He said there were “limited reassurances” he could give to a concerned public, adding: “What we were facing was increased criminal activity with the use of high-velocity assault weapons in reprisals between gangs.

“It’s not about killing the murder rate, it’s about expecting brazen acts that will endanger the public,” he said, although he admitted that the last 10 years of the government’s tenure had seen crime rates spiral upwards.

The president, Christine Kangaloo, said in a proclamation: “I am satisfied that a public emergency has arisen as a result of the occurrence of acts that have been taken or immediately threatened by any person, of such a nature and on such a scale on a scale likely to endanger public safety.”

An estimated 42.6% of homicides are gang-related, and nearly all are linked to organized crime, police said.

The last state of emergency declared in Trinidad and Tobago was in 2021 to allow restrictions during the Covid pandemic.