Prime Minister of St Lucia, Philip J Pierre, has taken over as the rotating chairman of the Regional Security System (RSS), a job he said he is taking with humility and purpose.
He replaces Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis.
“As the new Chairman of the RSS, I accept this responsibility with humility, with purpose, and with an unwavering commitment to advancing the safety and security of our Caribbean region,” Pierre said on Monday. “I do so with deep conviction in the power of regional unity and collective action.”
He pointed out that the RSS must be the region’s tool for collective action.
“It is the most formidable security mechanism available to us,” Pierre stated. “If we continue to join forces, share intelligence, and coordinate responses, we stand a real chance of turning the tide on this escalating violence.”
He called for unity to safeguard the future of the region.
“If we are to safeguard our region’s future, we must deepen our unity, renew our purpose, and act with urgency,” the St Lucia Prime Minister noted.
“The Regional Security System was born from a vision of regional solidarity in the face of shared threats.”
As Chairman, Pierre is responsible for:
• Approval authority for any mobilization of RSS Forces;
• Approval authority for financial arrangements of the RSS;
• Hosting the Annual Council of Ministers meeting in March 2026 and any other meetings of the Council deemed necessary;
• Approval authority for the contract of the Executive Director, if required.
The RSS made the news on March 17 when Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, announced that it was being alerted in light of planned protest action over three bills on Electoral Reform that were being presented in parliament.
The very next day, former Prime Minister of St Lucia, Allen Chastanet jumped on the matter saying an independent assessment of the situation in Dominica should be made before deploying RSS.
Political Leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Dr Thomson Fontaine also wrote to the Chairman of CARICOM, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressing concerns that the RSS was being misused to suppress the fundamental human rights of Dominican citizens to engage in peaceful protests.
Mottley responded by saying that the decision was based on past experiences with protests and was made in the interest of national security, in alignment with the purposes of the RSS Treaty.
She did say the RSS was never deployed but pointed out that the protest did not receive the necessary permission from the Police of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
“CARICOM will continue to support democratic expression in keeping with the national laws of its Member States,” she wrote.
The RSS was created in 1982 to counter threats to the stability of the region in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
You was threatened with deportation where and for what? Liar.MAYBE your threats for deportation was because of criminal and corrupt activities.The Booloukoo lying so much,” I was threatened with deportation traveling THROUGH Barbados to Dominica.So they deporting you in transit to Dominica while you waiting to leave Barbados for Dominica.I knew along that are hole belong in the mad 🏠
When these prime ministers dispatched the RSS tear-gas squirting people to places like Dominica, does the RSS inform the families of these peace fighters that some of them may not return home? I was just wondering.
Shameful and rhetorical. He keeps saying he same thing in different ways. No prime minister should hold the RSS post. PERIOD. This society/gang should be replaced and directed by some other independent body and not by any prime minister. You don’t leave your cheese in the care of a cat.
None, no one of these prime ministers, is trustworthy enough, so we can rest assured that their eloquent pronouncements, crated by their well paid speech writers, are reliable.
The RSS is not being used for its original intention. It is now an extra tool to use against their own citizens to suppress dissent against their misrule.
Sadly, the weaponization of the RSS against a beleaguered people spells trouble not only for Dominica but the region (OECS).
is that so??? Send them Haiti and on the Venezuela Guyana border. we have Kenya coming do job we too afraid to do for ourselves. Is on unarmed old people in Dominica yall jar force. we will never forget Salisbury and the unchallenged killings I. Dominica after Hurricane Maria. These current group of Caribbean leaders are turning people on each other and I think the time will come when we have to re consider our membership in caricom. Caribbean people are harrased while traveling in each others islands. Chinese taking the economic footing with help of the same synchophants that kiss thier behind. Skerrit et al. I was threatened with deportation while traveling to Dominica passing through bdos. Caricom is a useless club and RSS is a waste of resources. we can simply request help from an country when needed. Besides Dominica may be owing dues.