"Caribbean village grieves US strike victim as Trump blamed for poor deaths"

Relatives of two men from Trinidad reportedly killed in a U.S. military operation on a vessel in the Caribbean have criticized Donald Trump for acting without due process and are calling for accountability.

Chad “Charpo” Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, from the fishing community of Las Cuevas in northern Trinidad, were among six individuals believed to have died in a U.S. strike targeting a boat suspected of carrying drugs from Venezuela.

Trump labeled those killed as “narcoterrorists,” stating that intelligence indicated the boat was involved in illegal drug trafficking. However, during a gathering for the two men, Joseph’s cousin La Toya, 42, argued that he was denied his fundamental legal rights and accused Trinidad and Tobago’s government of conceding control to the U.S.

"Everyone deserves due process, and that didn’t happen. It doesn’t feel like we’re under our own government’s authority anymore when it comes to our waters—it’s as if they aren’t Trinidad’s waters,” she said, questioning why the boat was destroyed instead of its occupants being detained and investigated.

At the gathering on Thursday night, family and community members expressed a sense of betrayal by their government and vulnerability to the actions of the Trump administration, which they said had unchecked control over their waters.

"All I want to know is why Donald Trump is killing poor people like this,” said Joseph’s uncle, referred to as “Dollars.” “He’s after their resources—oil and wealth—and ending the lives of people struggling to survive.”

Joseph’s aunt, Lynette Burnley, said the family had heard nothing from Trinidad’s government since news broke of her nephew’s death.

“It makes me feel a certain way,” Burnley said. “People from outside the country have reached out, but not our own leaders here. They’ve failed us when we needed them most.”

On Thursday, Trinidad’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who has backed U.S. military involvement in the region before, avoided addressing reporters' questions about the strike believed to have killed Joseph and Samaroo.

"Think about it—the prime minister was asked about this, and she hasn’t even made a statement,” Burnley said, adding that it seemed Joseph and Samaroo were being dismissed as if “they didn’t exist.”

Joseph’s grandmother, Christine Clement, described him as someone she was very close to. He had moved from his mother’s home in Matelot, another fishing village, to live with her.

She said the only support she had received had come from neighbors and friends.

"Everyone is hurting because in this community, we’re all connected—family and friends. Yet, no officials have come to ask questions. No investigation, nothing,” she said, mentioning she was trying to remain composed despite the emotional strain.

Less is known in the village about Samaroo, who had been imprisoned for his involvement in a 2009 killing of a street vendor before his release in 2021.