In the tropical waters around Trinidad and Tobago, pirates are making waking waves again, with a recent spate of kidnappings, shootings, robberies and even murders.
Marlon Sookoo, a fisherman from a sleepy village on the southern tip of Trinidad, has first-hand experience of how ruthless the pirates can be.
“They hold you. Some take you for ransom. You have to pay the ransom otherwise they will kill you. Some will take the boat and engine and throw you out.”
He’s one of a number of seafarers who’ve been attacked in recent years, a result largely of the collapse of the neighbouring state of Venezuela, which has left millions of its citizens desperately poor.
Foreign Correspondent reporter Andy Park visits this tiny Caribbean nation during its peak party season, the riotous festival of Carnival.
While there’s much cause for celebration, he finds the laid back, self-proclaimed “rainbow people” of Trinidad and Tobago struggling to cope with the fallout from Venezuela’s failed state.
Famous for cricket and calypso, the tiny islands are dealing with an increase in illegal migration, gang crime and also, piracy on-sea.
Kennier Berra Lopez is also a victim.
A Venezuelan refugee in Trinidad, Kennier arranged for his family to escape their country by boat but pirates intercepted them at sea and now Kennier’s family have disappeared.
“I don’t think Carnival is a happy time. All the time, day and night. I still have faith that [my family] are going to appear,” Kennier says.
