JAMAICA | "Where Do You Stand, Jamaica?" PNP Challenges Holness To Defend International Law

Opposition challenges Holness administration to unequivocally condemn dangerous precedent set by forcible seizure of Venezuelan head of state

KINGSTON, Jamaica, January 6, 2026 - WiredJa News - Three days after American warplanes bombed Caracas and US special forces dragged a sitting president from his residence to a Manhattan jail cell, Jamaica's People's National Party has broken its silence—not with diplomatic pleasantries, but with a pointed question for the Holness administration: Where exactly does Jamaica stand?

In a statement issued Monday, the PNP reaffirmed its commitment to "a system of rule-based governance of international relations, in which the use of force is kept strictly within the limits permitted by international law." The party explicitly called upon the Government of Jamaica to "stand up for and unequivocally support these well-established principles which have long guided Jamaica's stance and reputation in international affairs."

The subtext is unmistakable. Whatever the Jamaica Information Service posted in the hours after Operation Absolute Resolve—the US military's euphemism for its January 3rd assault—the PNP found it wanting.

The Silence That Echoes

The opposition's statement arrives amid a regional response that has been, at best, carefully calibrated—and at worst, conspicuously muted. CARICOM's Bureau of Heads of Government convened on the morning of the invasion and produced a statement affirming "the fundamental principles of international law and multilateralism enshrined in the UN Charter, including sovereignty and territorial integrity of States."

Notably absent from that statement: any identification of who violated those principles. Any condemnation. Any demand for accountability.

The PNP's release suffers no such ambiguity. It names what occurred: "the use of force to effect regime change" that "threatens our region's peace and security, and risks broader conflict."

A Zone of Peace in Ruins

For decades, Caribbean nations have championed the concept of the region as a Zone of Peace—a collective rejection of military intervention and great-power competition in waters that small island states call home. That doctrine now lies in tatters, shredded by the same superpower that once positioned itself as the guarantor of hemispheric security.

The irony cuts deeper still. Just weeks ago, CARICOM welcomed Interpol's Secretary General to its Montego Bay summit, celebrating "international cooperation" and "strengthening safety and security across the Caribbean." Now the region watches as international mechanisms are wielded not for collective security, but for the unilateral seizure of a neighbouring nation's leader.

Trinidad and Tobago's response has been particularly instructive. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar hastened to clarify that her country "is NOT a participant" in the military operations—a curious emphasis, given that Trinidad had hosted US military personnel and vessels during the months-long buildup, and that Persad-Bissessar herself had publicly endorsed Washington's Caribbean security agenda.

The Existential Question

The PNP's statement frames the stakes with bracing clarity: "Smaller nations must of necessity rely on and stand by the rule of international law to protect our independence, sovereignty and legitimate interests."

This is not abstract principle. It is survival strategy. When a superpower can bomb a capital, seize a president, and announce it will "run" a sovereign nation until it decides otherwise—all while facing no meaningful consequence—every small state must ask what protections remain.

International law experts have been unequivocal. Chatham House's Programme Director for International Law called the operation "a significant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and the UN Charter." The UN Secretary-General declared himself "deeply alarmed" and warned of "a dangerous precedent."

Jamaica has historically understood these stakes. From Michael Manley's advocacy for a New International Economic Order to the country's consistent voice in Non-Aligned forums, Jamaica has recognized that the rules-based order is not a constraint on small nations—it is their shield.

The PNP is asking whether Jamaica still remembers that truth. The government's answer will echo far beyond Kingston.

WiredJa News

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