Jesse Ramdeo
Senior Reporter
jesse.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt
Retired director of the Institute of International Relations at The University of the West Indies, Dr Anthony Gonzales, says Trinidad and Tobago has historically benefited from both Republican and Democratic administrations in the United States, making it difficult to declare one party more advantageous to the country.
Gonzales said the benefits have varied according to each administration’s policies and the prevailing geopolitical circumstances.
His comments come against the backdrop of recent US midterm election results, which have shifted the political landscape in Washington and renewed questions about the implications for countries such as Trinidad and Tobago.
Democrats have taken control of both chambers of Congress—the House of Representatives and the Senate—giving them oversight powers, influence over federal spending and the ability to block President Donald Trump’s nominees, including candidates for Supreme Court vacancies.
Gonzales pointed to the Caribbean Basin Initiative, introduced under Republican President Ronald Reagan, as one significant benefit to the region.
“Under the Republicans, for instance, we benefited from the Caribbean Basin Initiative when they agreed to give duty-free status to all the Caribbean countries. This was an initiative of Ronald Reagan.”
He said the initiative was driven partly by Washington’s concerns about the spread of communism in the Caribbean during the Cold War.
Gonzales noted that successive Democratic and Republican administrations largely maintained the arrangement until Trump introduced a different approach to international trade, including higher tariffs.
However, he cautioned against judging the parties solely by their historical trade policies, arguing that there have been significant differences within each party.
“It’s difficult to compartmentalise it and say Republicans do this and Democrats do this,” he said.
Gonzales also highlighted differences in how successive administrations have approached international relations. He pointed to former Democratic President Jimmy Carter’s emphasis on diplomacy and respect for national sovereignty, as well as former President Barack Obama’s decision to pursue diplomatic engagement with Cuba.
He contrasted that approach with Trump’s subsequent reversal of the Cuba policy. Gonzales argued that the current US administration represents a departure from the broader bipartisan approach that characterised much of the post-Second World War international order.
“What we’re seeing now is that the present US administration is going against these institutions. They’re trying to get rid of them. They’re against the UN, they’re against all this, all the WTO,” he said.
Gonzales warned that the erosion of the international rules-based system could have serious implications for smaller countries, which depend on multilateral arrangements to protect their interests.
He also questioned whether Trinidad and Tobago’s increasingly close alignment with Washington is delivering enough benefits to justify the approach.
While acknowledging the importance of US cooperation on national security, particularly in tackling drug trafficking and organised crime, he questioned whether Trinidad and Tobago needed to go further than existing arrangements such as the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
“I don’t know what is the advantage of going that step further with the Americans and joining the Shield of the Americas,” he said.
