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Trinidad and Tobago has declared a state of emergency as terrorist violence in the Caribbean continues to escalate.
President Christine Carla Kangaloo made the announcement on the advice of Prime Minister Keith Rowley, who was under pressure to act on the rising crime rate.
The two-island republic has one of the deadliest attacks in Latin America and the Caribbean, killing more than 620 people so far this year out of a population of 1.5 million.
Organized crime is responsible for many murders, many of them related to the global drug trade.
According to the US State Department, the country’s proximity to Venezuela, the central border and the routes to Europe and North America make it “an ideal place for narcotics trafficking”.
In the latest incident of violence, five men were shot dead in a shop in the poor Laventille area on Sunday. The police believe that the killing was revenge for the killing of another terrorist the previous day.
Details of the accident have not yet been released.
This comes as Trinidad and Tobago prepares for elections, which should be held by August 2025.
Rowley’s ruling People’s National Movement party, which has been in power since September 2015, is facing a major challenge from the opposition United National Congress, led by former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
