Letter of the Day | All powers must respect the Caribbean’s Zone of Peace

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Gleaner’s October 27 editorial, ‘Former leaders right’, is a welcome and necessary reaffirmation of a principle the Caribbean has long cherished – that our region must remain a Zone of Peace. The signatories’ bipartisan moral authority reminds us that sovereignty and self-determination are not partisan slogans but the foundation of Caribbean civilisation itself.

Yet, in warning against the expansion of US military assets in the region, the editorial and the distinguished former leaders omit a critical dimension of the story. The Caribbean’s peace has not been disturbed by one actor alone. Long before the latest American deployments, other external powers and networks – notably Russia, China, Iran, and Hezbollah – were already reshaping the region’s security landscape, often through less visible but equally consequential means.

Russia’s naval visits to Havana and Managua; China’s deepening control of strategic ports and dual-use infrastructure; and Iran’s expanding partnership with Venezuela – including the reported activities of Hezbollah-linked operatives – have all served to insert extra-hemispheric rivalries into our waters. These maneuvers, while seldom framed as aggression, nonetheless erode the neutrality and safety the ‘Zone of Peace’ was meant to secure.

This is not to justify the renewed muscularity of Washington’s posture, nor to overlook the dangers of its unilateralism. Indeed, the United States must exercise restraint, respect, and transparency in its actions. But it is equally important to recognise that the Caribbean’s growing militarisation is not emerging from a vacuum; it reflects a broader struggle among global powers, each pursuing hegemonic influence in our region.

Caribbean governments and the media that inform them must therefore apply the same scrutiny to all foreign actors, whether they come bearing warships, infrastructure loans, or ideological sympathies. Leaders in Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, in particular, should weigh carefully the regional consequences of military or intelligence alliances that may compromise our collective security.

To preserve the Caribbean as a genuine Zone of Peace requires more than rejecting one empire’s overreach; it demands vigilance against every encroachment, from whichever quarter it arrives. The Gleaner has done the region a service by continually raising the alarm. The next step is to widen the lens and ensure that the demand to keep our region a Zone of Peace is directed at all the parties attempting to exploit the Caribbean region in their quest for geopolitical dominance.

D. Michael Britton, PhD

Educator & Academic