Mexico’s government has embarked on a spirited campaign to enlist Caribbean nations in a joint effort to sue American gun manufacturers, blaming them for crime and security problems affecting the two intended litigants.
The unusual but ambitious move is already gaining some level of traction, with at least three of the 15-regional member states in Caricom saying they have every intention of joining the fight because gun violence, criminal gang activity, and weapons smuggling are providing major governance headaches for them daily.
Trinidad, for example, had, until last year, believed that most of the high-powered weapons and handguns being used by gangs and other criminals were coming across the seven-mile strait of water shared with Venezuela. Police say that the latest data now shows that the U.S. states of Georgia, Maryland, and Florida are the main smuggling origins.
This timely bit of information might be the reason why Prime Minister Keith Rowley was able to tell a local party audience last week that Trinidad is likely to sign on with Mexico to test whether any legal action can be taken against American manufacturers.
“T&T is actively considering [testing] the legality of those who make those weapons of war that are destroying our societies,” Rowley said. “We have to join that fight. It will be a test case. Those who are making guns, knowing where the guns are going and what they could do, have been insulated from lawsuits but recently, a couple of people had sued the manufacturers in America and won so the dam has cracked.”
Rowley also confirmed that Mexico has “approached Caricom,” asking it to sign onto the litigation. “I want Caricom to speak as one voice to our major trading partner, our friend in the north, with one voice, to say to them that America must do more to prevent guns from coming from America into our country.”
Antigua and Belize have already confirmed intentions to participate, while Mexico is continuing its lobbying effort individually and collectively. Whichever works is just fine, said Ambassador to Guyana and Caricom Mauricio Vizcaino Crespo: “We are promoting that litigation. We need to give the information to all the Caricom countries and we are trying to sign all the states. It is about looking for support from Caricom and so far, Antigua and Belize are coming on. The others can come individually or as a bloc of Caricom, “
Murmurings about the possibility of the bloc joining up with Mexico are coming in the wake of complaints by many governments in the region, especially Trinidad, Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Lucia, and—to a lesser extent—Barbados, about illegal weapons entering ports undetected, not forgetting how easy it is for violent gangs in Haiti to possess such weapons and almost bring life to a standstill in some parts of the island.
Trinidad set all-time records for murders last year with more than 606, easily surpassing the previous record of 529 in 2008. Jamaica, on the other hand, continues to battle with similar problems, recording nearly 1,400 murders annually in recent decades, while the Bahamas and the others have complained about unusual spikes in the past three years. At the weekend, police reported that four people were shot and killed in St. Lucia by unidentified gunmen, upsetting the sensibilities of what used to be a tranquil tourism paradise, famous for weddings and honeymoons.
The Mexico initiative came up briefly at a meeting of regional leaders last week when Antigua raised it, but officials say it is yet to be formally discussed at the highest level.
The U.S. needs to sue Mexico and the other carribean countries for 10 trillion dollars to cover the damages from the drugs and illegals coming into the country.