SKN WatchDog
ln this theatrical noise from Guyana and certain quarters in Trinidad about Delcy Rodríguez’s brooch is being presented as principle. But it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. It’s pure frustration and a false wounded pride dressed up as patriotism.
Delcy Rodríguez wore a brooch mapping Essequibo as Venezuelan territory while visiting Grenada and Barbados. So what? The dispute is before the International Court of Justice. It will not be settled by jewelry in St. George’s or Bridgetown. The ICJ will decide not performative photo-ops and selective outrage. What’s really driving this outrage is not the brooch it’s exclusion from a diplomatic space they assumed they controlled.
What’s really eating Guyana and Trinidad’s loudest voices? Delcy is touring CARICOM on Venezuela’s terms, strengthening ties with countries she chooses, while pointedly bypassing Guyana and Trinidad. That’s what stings. Guyana expected automatic regional solidarity against Venezuela. Trinidad (particularly the UNC-aligned chorus) expected to be the indispensable gateway for Venezuelan energy deals, political influence, and lucrative access. Those grand expectations have hit reality.
Now, Rodríguez is doing diplomacy without them. She’s not begging for their validation. She’s building relationships where it suits Caracas. And the people who thought they’d be at the center of the action are watching from the sidelines, seething.
Instead of admitting they’ve been sidelined, they’re inflating a brooch into a national crisis. Every visit becomes “disrespect.” Every official photo becomes “treason.” Every piece of Venezuelan jewelry is treated like an invasion. This isn’t about defending Guyana’s sovereignty. This is about being left out of the party they assumed was theirs.
If the concern was genuinely about Essequibo and the rule of law, the focus would be laser-sharp: supporting Guyana’s ICJ case, rallying consistent diplomatic pressure, and strengthening Guyana’s legal and economic position. Not this hysterical, selective meltdown that conveniently erupts only when Delcy visits countries that aren’t Guyana or Trinidad.
Notice the hypocrisy: CARICOM leaders have long practiced pragmatic diplomacy engaging all sides while big disputes play out in international courts. Small states don’t survive by burning bridges out of emotion. Grenada and Barbados hosted Rodríguez as sovereign nations pursuing their own interests. They didn’t roll out the red carpet for Venezuela’s territorial claim; they engaged a neighbor in a complex region. The silence on the brooch isn’t shocking betrayal it’s standard Caribbean realpolitik.
What has changed isn’t CARICOM’s “lack of unity.” What changed is expectation versus cold reality. The energy windfall, the strategic centrality, the VIP access some in Trinidad and Guyana imagined for themselves hasn’t materialized on their timeline or terms. So instead of adjusting, they lash out, reframing personal and political disappointment as righteous outrage.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her chorus can keep claiming CARICOM leaders are only “serving themselves.” The truth is simpler: sovereign countries are acting in their own interests not Trinidad’s or Guyana’s bruised egos.
Guyana and Trinidad don’t own CARICOM. They don’t get to dictate who member states meet, when they meet them, or what jewelry they tolerate during official visits. The region isn’t obligated to perform theatrical solidarity just because Guyana feels vulnerable or because certain Trinidadian politicians bet heavily on Venezuelan rapprochement that hasn’t delivered.
Strip away the patriotic wrapping and the social media hysteria. This isn’t principled defense of sovereignty. This is plain ole sour grapes from those who feel excluded, sidelined, and irrelevant to Venezuela’s current regional outreach.
Delcy Rodríguez isn’t the problem. The problem is the bitter realization that the Caribbean doesn’t revolve around Georgetown or Port of Spain and never did.
