Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has ac­knowl­edged the grow­ing anx­i­ety among cit­i­zens, as­sur­ing the na­tion that her Gov­ern­ment has been work­ing “qui­et­ly, steadi­ly, and de­ci­sive­ly” to keep peo­ple safe.

Her mes­sage came af­ter the U.S. Em­bassy is­sued a se­cu­ri­ty alert ad­vis­ing its cit­i­zens to avoid all U.S. gov­ern­ment fa­cil­i­ties in Trinidad and To­ba­go through the Di­vali week­end due to a “height­ened state of alert.” The no­tice un­set­tled many, com­ing amid ris­ing re­gion­al ten­sions and re­ports of in­creased U.S. mil­i­tary ac­tiv­i­ty in the Caribbean.

Per­sad-Bisses­sar host­ed U.S. Em­bassy Chargé d’Af­faires Jenifer Nei­d­hart de Or­tiz and Chief of Mis­sion Char­lie Fran­ta for Di­vali din­ner at her home that same evening, say­ing, “I thank the mem­bers of the U.S. Em­bassy, led by U.S. Chargé d’Af­faires Jenifer Nei­d­hart de Or­tiz, for shar­ing a Di­vali din­ner at my home this evening.”

In her Di­vali mes­sage, she di­rect­ly ad­dressed the un­ease in the coun­try.

“I un­der­stand that there may be feel­ings of anx­i­ety at this time, and I wish to as­sure the na­tion that my Gov­ern­ment and I have been work­ing qui­et­ly, steadi­ly, and de­ci­sive­ly through every avail­able chan­nel to keep you safe,” she said.

The Prime Min­is­ter said the rise in vi­o­lence had touched every part of so­ci­ety, cit­ing threats from gangs, guns, and hu­man traf­fick­ing.

“Our goal is clear — to re­duce the num­ber of vic­tims and ease the heart­break that too many fam­i­lies and com­mu­ni­ties en­dure each day,” she said.

Her com­ments came as the Gov­ern­ment reaf­firmed its sup­port for on­go­ing U.S. mil­i­tary op­er­a­tions in the re­gion, say­ing those ef­forts help com­bat nar­cotics and hu­man traf­fick­ing and strength­en the Caribbean as a “Zone of Peace.”

Trinidad and To­ba­go stood apart from oth­er Cari­com mem­bers over the week­end by re­serv­ing its po­si­tion dur­ing re­gion­al dis­cus­sions on se­cu­ri­ty and the U.S. build-up in the Caribbean. In con­trast, Cari­com’s col­lec­tive state­ment reaf­firmed a com­mit­ment to peace and di­a­logue.

Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les crit­i­cised the Prime Min­is­ter for what she de­scribed as her “con­tin­ued ab­sence and si­lence” on na­tion­al and in­ter­na­tion­al mat­ters, say­ing Per­sad-Bisses­sar had cho­sen “re­treat over re­spon­si­bil­i­ty.”

Beck­les al­so ques­tioned the Gov­ern­ment’s for­eign pol­i­cy di­rec­tion, say­ing its de­ci­sion to break ranks with Cari­com raised “se­ri­ous ques­tions about the coun­try’s un­der­stand­ing of re­gion­al se­cu­ri­ty con­cerns.”

For­mer Prime Min­is­ter Stu­art Young and for­mer min­is­ters Mar­vin Gon­za­les and Colm Im­bert al­so ac­cused Per­sad-Bisses­sar of avoid­ing the pub­lic dur­ing the un­fold­ing sit­u­a­tion.

De­spite the crit­i­cism, the Prime Min­is­ter urged calm and uni­ty, say­ing the coun­try must hold firm to Di­vali’s mes­sage that light will al­ways tri­umph over dark­ness.

“Let us choose good­ness, courage, and uni­ty to make our na­tion safe for all,” she said. “Shubh Di­vali.”