Shut Yuh Mouth, Go and Play — Or Your Visa Take Away:
Trinidad and Tobago, Hear Nuh
When a government writes foreign powers asking them to help revoke citizens' visas for "destabilising content", we're no longer in a simple free-speech debate. We're in the era of outsourced censorship.
Make this make sense, Trinidad and Tobago.
When you put all the pieces on the table—the Gary Aboud case, Minister Roger Alexander's letter to the United States Embassy, and now the hush-hush warnings circulating on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, whispering, "If yuh doh want trouble for you or your family, doh talk too loud, doh post too strong…"— you start to feel like we have slipped into a new era where silence suddenly looks like self-defence.
And this is where the "We Don't Talk About Bruno" reference stops being cute and starts to sting. Bruno was not dangerous. He was simply unwelcome because his truth unsettled the family. So they made him a taboo. A shadow. A warning.
That is the texture creeping into Trinidad and Tobago right now.
A New Level of Macoing and Muzzling
Trinbago, this is a new level of macoing, mauve langue and bad talk—except now it feels like a full-on pappyshow with consequences.
Should I be afraid to share posts about what is weighing on our humanity, whether I am in the United States or speaking straight from Home? Because location aside, heart is where home is. That is why Trinidad and Tobago has been on my mind nonstop, and why I have been vocal about US engagement with T&T under the glittery tagline of "relationship building". Miss me with that.
What stings the most is the double standard. One of the loudest UNC voices in this current administration spent years on air telling the PNM and Dr Rowley to "eat crow", ripping them to shreds in broadcast after broadcast. On Facebook, a now-sitting diplomatic delegate—posted here in Washington, no less—was once the blazing firebrand of anti-PNM rhetoric, breathing fire and brimstone every chance they got.
Their right to speak, to rage, to ridicule was never framed as a matter of US surveillance or visa interception. Their friends and extended family in T&T who shared that hate rhetoric were never warned, "Careful, your travel privileges could be in question." Their anger was not only tolerated; it was rewarded with profile and position.
So when I ask whether there is a devil's pact quietly—well, now publicly—emerging to protect this new US–TT friend zone at the expense of our right to dissent, I am not being dramatic. I am connecting the dots. Because Trinidad and Tobago has always claimed a proud place in the wider Zone of Peace in our region. Yet recent actions suggest we are edging into another kind of zone—one where critical voices at home and abroad are treated as security risks, and where a "privilege" like a US visa can suddenly become the leash on your tongue.
We Are Not Billionaire Power Brokers
Let us be clear. Unlike the billionaire tropes in the United States—those who quietly plan, draft, select and deploy their tools of disruption to shift the political landscape—ordinary citizens of Trinidad and Tobago do not wield that kind of power.
We have humble tools: a social media post; a call-in show; a podcast; a blog; a Facebook Live with a few hundred viewers. These are the spaces where citizens disagree with leadership, test ideas, share warnings, ask questions and try to make sense of a complicated world.
Those voices must remain free—within the law, without threats to life or country—but free nonetheless. When honest dissent begins to feel like contraband, democracy is already on a slippery slope.
The Elephant in the Room: Visa as Leverage
Yet here we are—Trinidadians at home and abroad—finding ourselves under a new kind of spotlight. Local officials are openly invoking surveillance and the possibility of travel sanctions, because Trinidad and the United States now echo each other: "A US visa is a privilege."
So let us talk plainly. If the visa is now the leverage, what exactly is the punishment? Who decides when public dissent becomes "destabilising content"? Where is that line drawn? And why are we learning about these boundaries through leaks, rumours and private cautions instead of transparent policy?
Looking Back to Understand Now
To make sense of this shift, we have to look backward.
During the Rowley years—whether you supported that administration or not—people tore into that government daily. On radio. On YouTube. On Facebook. On WhatsApp. On podcasts with global reach. Yet never did a T&T minister stand before the nation and call on the United States to help target Trini citizens abroad, or to revoke their visas based on what they said online.
Fast-forward to 2025.
Gary Aboud speaks publicly and persistently against US military actions in our waters. His US visa is quietly revoked, under the vague wording of "additional information" and "inadmissibility". No detailed explanation. Just a decision.
Then the next shoe drops: Minister Alexander pens a formal letter to the US Embassy requesting coordinated action—including visa revocation—against individuals abroad who share what he labels "defamatory, inflammatory and intentionally misleading narratives" that might undermine joint security operations. That is the language of national security, wrapped around the realities of speech.
And now the social media grapevine is humming with fear: "Doh talk too loud. Lay low. We doh want no trouble."
Piece these moments together and ask yourself, Trinidad and Tobago: is this really what we are doing now? Is this the new currency of information in 2025—that your right to speak about war, security, foreign influence and governance can be weighed against your right to travel?
From Bruno to Big Brother
Because that is what this feels like. We have moved from "We Don't Talk About Bruno" to "We Don't Talk At All."
The message filtering through WhatsApp groups and private DMs is simple: hush your mouth. Do not share that article. Do not repost that video. Do not question the optics of US warships and training exercises near Venezuela. Do not ask why a Caribbean state that once championed a Zone of Peace is now leaning so heavily on the rhetoric of joint military readiness.
But a democracy cannot survive on hush. Our economics, our livelihoods, our children's futures depend on open, uncomfortable conversations—nationally and internationally. Trinidad and Tobago's place in the world will not be defended by those who are too frightened to speak, nor by citizens who accept that a foreign visa can be used as a leash for their conscience.
If Bruno's story taught us anything, it is this: silence does not protect the family. It only hides the truth.
Trinidad and Tobago, hear nuh: Big Brother US should not be the reason we silence ourselves. And T&T should never be the country that asks for that silence on our behalf.
Endnotes & Further Reading
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The Gary Aboud Visa Revocation Case.
Coverage of the US Embassy's prudential revocation of Gary Aboud's B1/B2 visa, following his public criticism of US military activities in regional waters, reported by Guardian Media:
US Ambassador defends revocation of Aboud’s visa (Guardian Media) -
Minister Roger Alexander's Letter to the US Embassy.
Trinidad Express, 24 November 2025 — reporting on Minister Alexander's written request to the United States Embassy seeking cooperation in immigration sanctions, including visa revocation, for individuals abroad accused of spreading "destabilising" narratives:
Roger: Revoke Trinis’ Visas (Trinidad Express) -
US Embassy Trinidad & Tobago — Visa Privilege Advisory.
Official US Department of State guidance explaining that a US visa is a privilege, not a right, and may be revoked if information arises indicating ineligibility or misconduct:
Visa Denials: Official US State Dept. Advisory
Additional nonimmigrant visa information (US Embassy Trinidad & Tobago):
US Embassy Trinidad & Tobago — Nonimmigrant Visa Information -
Related Grace Notes Essays.
– What Is Death? What Is a Joke for School Children Is Not a Joke for Us
– No War: Zone of Peace — For God's Sake
– Trinidad and Tobagonians, We Are Not Chupid
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