Country Snapshot

Population: 1,104,209 (July 2003 est.) Size, comparable to U.S.: slightly smaller than Delaware Per Capita GDP, not adjusted for PPP (year): $6,490 (2002) Income, wealthiest 10% / poorest 10%:  45.9/2.1 (1992) Population earning less than $2 a day: 39% Ranking, Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index: 43 out of 133 Defense Expenditure as a percentage of GDP: 1.4% (1999) Size of armed forces: 3,000 (2001) U.S. military personnel present: 6 (2003)

Counternarcotics

The State Department's 2000 Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations describes Trinidad and Tobago as "a major transit point for narcotics from South America."¹ Anti-drug activities thus account for most U.S. military cooperation with this Caribbean country.

According to the State Department’s February 1999 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), the United States has given Trinidad and Tobago two C-26 aircraft, two Piper Navajo aircraft and two 82-foot patrol boats for counternarcotics interdiction or surveillance. All of these items were to be delivered in early 1999.² According to other documents, the two boats were provided through the President’s emergency drawdown authority.

The United States supports a six-installation radar system in Trinidad and Tobago to detect planes and boats suspected of involvement in drug trafficking. The system became operational in 1998 and continues to be upgraded.³ The Defense Department spent $66,000 on its "Section 1004" counter-drug programs in 1998, and plans to spend $125,000 in 1999.⁴

Within the framework of a bilateral maritime counternarcotics agreement, several joint patrols were mounted in Trinidadian territorial waters in 1998.⁵ The INCSR notes that four bilateral maritime exercises took place in 1998, and that “during [these] operations personnel from the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy participated as observers on each other’s vessels."⁶

Other assistance, training and exercises

Trinidad and Tobago participated in several of the U.S. Southern Command’s regular multilateral military exercises in 1998 and 1999, including Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarian, Fuerzas Aliadas Peacekeeping, and Tradewinds. Part of the Tradewinds 98 and 99 exercises took place in Trinidadian waters.

The Department of State reports that the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force is creating an engineering battalion, whose primary mission will be disaster relief. The United States has provided training for this battalion, reports the 2000 Congressional Presentation, which notes that a “company of troops will participate in disaster exercises with French Martinique during the spring of 1999."⁷

Trinidad and Tobago is eligible to share the $3 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) designated as a “Caribbean regional fund.” The Congressional Presentation states that FMF and International Military Education and Training (IMET) funds will be used to “modernize [Trinidad’s] maritime fleet, enhancing its capability to participate in security and law enforcement missions."⁸

Trinidad and Tobago bought small amounts of U.S. weapons and equipment in 1998. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) purchases, mostly for technical assistance, totaled $388,000; while Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) licenses, mainly for small arms and ammunition, totaled $617,461.

" ">Two Special Forces deployments in 1998 trained with between 30 and 45 Trinidadian personnel. One focused on light infantry tactics and the other on foreign internal defense and other matters.⁹

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Sources:

¹ United States, Department of State, Office of Resources, Plans and Policy, Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2000 (Washington: February 1999): 927.

² United States, Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998 (Washington: February, 1999) <http://www.state.gov/www/global/narcotics_law/1998_narc_report/carib98_part3.html>.

³ United States, Department of State, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998.

⁴ Ana Maria Salazar, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support, United States Department of Defense, attachment of letter in response to congressional inquiry, March 19, 1999.

⁵ Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2000 928.

⁶ United States, Department of State, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998.

⁷ United States, Department of State, Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2000 928.

⁸ United States, Department of State, Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2000 927.

⁹ United States, Department of State, Department of Defense, Foreign Military Training and DoD Engagement Activities of Interest in Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999 (Washington: 1999).