Lawmakers in Trinidad and Tobago approved a three-month extension of a state of emergency on Sunday after Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said it had averted “a criminal uprising” in the energy-rich country.
The measure, suspending some constitutional guarantees and giving the police and military sweeping powers to make arrests, was first declared on Aug. 21 and had been due to expire yesterday.
Parliament approved the three-month extension with a simple majority vote after Persad-Bissessar said the “criminal underworld” was bent on sowing “bloodshed and mayhem” in the Caribbean country.
Trinidad, a leading exporter of liquefied natural gas to the US, has faced a growing crime problem stemming from heavily armed street gangs.
Members of the opposition People’s National Movement voted against the extension of the emergency rule, saying it was unfairly targeting black communities in the twin-island nation, which is divided almost equally between descendants of black Africans and East Indians.
However, Persad-Bissessar told a parliamentary debate the emergency, which has led to more than 1,400 arrests so far, was strictly aimed at halting runaway crime.
It was clamped on the country after police blamed a recent spate of murders on the drug trade and turf wars over smuggling routes through Trinidad and Tobago, which is a transshipment point for South American cocaine headed to Europe and the US.
In her comments to parliament, Persad-Bissessar said the emergency was also required to prevent violent reprisals against the police and other authorities for recent drug seizures in Trinidad.
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