If you’re heading to Trinidad and Tobago for Carnival, keep an eye out, for danger because the U.S. and U.K have issued a security alert and a travel advisory, respectively, citing a potential terrorism threat, Newsweek reports.
The U.S. Embassy in Trinidad's capital city, Port of Spain, announced they foiled a terrorist attack plot, but that revelers should remain vigilant and exercise extra caution, just in case.
“Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Trinidad and Tobago. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in crowded spaces and places visited by foreigners,” said the alert.
According to CNN, Trinidad and Tobago has its fair share of ISIS sympathizers as does nearly every country. Approximately 100 of these extremists have left the island to join the terrorist group abroad. The island is home to 1.7 million people.
The British government is more concerned about ISIS sympathizers who have not left the country.
“There’s also a threat from individuals who may have been inspired by terrorist groups, including [ISIS] and al Qaeda, to carry out so-called ‘lone actor’ attacks targeting public events or places,” the British government said in their alert.
Carnival is scheduled to begin next Monday; the event usually draws thousands of tourists from overseas.
The news could not come at a worse time. According to Chris James, president of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Agency, Tobago is already experiencing loss of tourism revenue due to the suspension of the TT Express, a passenger ferry.
James said that 2017 wasn’t a good year, and the island hoped to make 2018 better.
“We’re very concerned about this Carnival weekend. The hotels are not booked, we had considerable cancellations last weekend and now I am hearing of more and more cancellations,” James told the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. “We did badly for Christmas, we did badly last year for the summer season because of this problem, and now we are going to lose Carnival. We hope that we can get back on track for Easter but that is still looking gloomy.”
