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Trinidad PM Reverses Course: U.S. Marines Reportedly Working on Tobago Airport Radar

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar reversed course and confirmed U.S. Marines are at Tobago's airport conducting work on radar, runway and road improvements intended to boost surveillance against drug traffickers. Officials provided few specifics and several ministries did not respond to requests for comment. The announcement follows a visit by a U.S. military adviser and comes amid wider U.S. activity across the eastern Caribbean, including similar requests in Grenada and new access agreements in the Dominican Republic.

06:33 AM, 11/29/2025Security
Trinidad PM Reverses Course: U.S. Marines Reportedly Working on Tobago Airport Radar

Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, on Thursday retracted an earlier denial and said American personnel are currently at the airport in Tobago performing work on the island’s radar, runway and access road.

Persad-Bissessar told reporters the personnel 'will help us to improve our surveillance and the intelligence of the radars for the narco‑traffickers in our waters and outside our waters,' but she did not provide details on how long the work will last or whether the radar systems will be operated by U.S. forces.

Requests for comment to the attorney general and to the ministers of defence and homeland security were not returned.

What is known

Local officials in Tobago confirmed that at least one U.S. military plane recently landed on the island to refuel. The disclosure followed a meeting between Persad-Bissessar and Gen. Dan Caine, described in media reports as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a senior military adviser to the U.S. president, who travelled to Trinidad and Tobago.

Regional context

Earlier this year, U.S. officials reportedly asked Grenada for temporary permission to install a radar at its main international airport; Grenadian authorities have not publicly confirmed a decision. Like Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada lies near Venezuela, and some analysts view the expanded U.S. military presence in the eastern Caribbean as part of broader pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Separately, the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, recently said he would allow U.S. forces temporary access to restricted areas at a military air base and the country’s main international airport to support anti‑drug operations. He made the announcement alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Independent reports indicate U.S. strikes that began in early September have resulted in at least 83 deaths.

It remains unclear whether the radar systems in Tobago will be owned, operated, or accessed by U.S. personnel, and officials have not said whether the work involves new equipment or upgrades to existing systems.

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