Fishermen in Trinidad and Tobago fear for their lives and jobs after UᏚ strikes in the Caribbean

U.S. President Donald Trump, “is giving instructions to shoot and kill people,” Modie, a fisherman from the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, said about recent U.S. military strikes targeting suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean as it bulks up its military presence in the region. “What could we do? We’re just a little dot.”

Trinidad and Tobago is stuck between the Venezuela/U.S. tensions, a nation with a multimillion-dollar fishing industry that employs thousands of fishermen who cast their nets almost daily to sustain themselves and their family.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has said that drug cartels have contributed to pain and suffering in her country, and she has urged the U.S. to “kill them all violently.”

She also said she is willing to grant the U.S. access to Trinidad and Tobago, if needed, so Americans can defend Guyana from neighboring Venezuela, which has claimed two-thirds of Guyana as its own.

Maduro said that Persad-Bissessar’s willingness to grant such access is like declaring war against Venezuela. The Venezuelan president has called for a return to good relations with its Caribbean neighbor, even as Trinidad and Tobago’s government claims there’s no bad blood between the countries.

While those in authority trade words and military commanders ramp up their posturing, dozens of fishermen in Trinidad and Tobago feel their lives are at risk given the ongoing U.S. strikes and escalation of tensions with Venezuela.

“If we die, we die, that’s how this life is,” Modie said.

He fears being killed by a U.S. military strike while out fishing because he believes his boat could be mistaken for a drug-smuggling vessel. Modie said he hasn’t seen substantial evidence that those killed in the U.S. strikes were indeed transporting drugs. He also worries about innocent fishermen being killed and falsely labelled as narco-terrorists by authorities, with the dead men being unable to clear their names.