Summary

• Radar Dismantled: Less than three months after the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, the controversial U.S. military radar in Tobago has been taken down.
• Impending Departure: A U.S. military cargo aircraft is expected to arrive soon to transport the equipment, which reportedly costs US$3 million a day to operate, out of the country.
• Troop Withdrawal: Tobago Chief Secretary Farley Augustine confirmed last week that the U.S. troops stationed on the island will be leaving ‘in a couple of days.’
• Original Purpose: Installed in November 2025, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar stated the radar was brought in to combat the illegal drug trade stemming from Venezuela.
• Ongoing Security Needs: Despite the radar’s removal, Defence Minister Wayne Sturge recently appealed directly to the U.S. Secretary of Defense for increased maritime assets to help Trinidad and Tobago disrupt cartel transshipment corridors.

 

LESS than three months after the United States military invaded Venezuela and detained its leader, Nicolas Maduro, on drug-related charges, the controversial radar erected in Tobago has been taken down.

The military-grade ground/air task-oriented radar at the ANR Robinson International Airport in Crown Point has been dismantled. According to media reports, a U.S. military aircraft is expected to arrive to transport the US$3-million-a-day equipment. On Monday, the Trinidad Guardian newspaper published a photo of an empty lot where the towering radar could previously be seen rotating 360 degrees.

Last Wednesday, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said the U.S. troops would be leaving Tobago “in a couple of days.”

The radar arrived in Tobago in November last year, with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar stating at the time that it was to assist in dealing with the illegal drug trade, particularly out of Venezuela.

On January 3, Maduro was detained by the U.S. military and is now in a New York jail awaiting trial on drug charges.

Just last month, Defence Minister Wayne Sturge defended the government’s continued use of the radar, telling reporters that the equipment would remain in place indefinitely as local authorities intensify efforts to combat drug trafficking and gun smuggling.

“We would have the use of the radar for the foreseeable future. I can’t give a definitive timeline. And the reason why we need it—we already have a radar centre, but our radar systems are somewhat limited,” Sturge said at the time.

“The radar system provided by the U.S., they work with drone technology and satellite communications and so on. So it offers a lot more than what we have. And that is needed at this point in time to achieve certain objectives, because as you would appreciate, the Coast Guard’s fleet is not what it should be. So we need the assistance in terms of detection, which would help us with the limited fleet we have; it will help us to respond in a timely manner and intercept.”

Earlier this month, Sturge said he had made a request for increased military support from the United States to combat drug cartels operating in the Caribbean. He made the appeal directly to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during the Americas Counter Cartel Conference in Miami.

“We require assets in the interim that would enhance our maritime domain awareness as well as enable us to carry out targeted reinforcement that would serve both our interests and would deliver immediate hemispheric benefits,” Sturge told the conference. “Our Government is dedicated and ready to shoulder all responsibility, and once proportionally equipped to the expectations faced upon us, we will deliver results.”

He added: “If we are to deliver effectively as the security anchor in the southern Caribbean, we require assets that would equip us with the capability to disrupt the cartels in the transshipment corridors and to protect our shared economic interests in the energy sector.” (CMC)