Belying its reputation for gun crime and gang violence, Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad, is little more than a sleepy backwater, boasting low-rise candy-coloured buildings nestled between verdant hills and the Caribbean.

That was until the Obama show came to town. With soldiers, Secret Service and fighter jets in tow, the US President’s entourage swamps the town of 130,000 people, which for months has given its everyday existence over to the staging of the Summit of the Americas.

The town has been put in virtual lockdown in the biggest security operation the former British colony has seen. Whole areas have been cordoned off and businesses closed. Troops have been brought in from Caricom, the regional bloc, along with nearby national forces, including the Sandhurst-trained Guyana Defence Force. The US military has a strong presence, with troops and equipment flown in to ensure the safety of the most powerful man in the world. About 5,000 specially trained security personnel line the town’s streets and patrol boats brought in from the Bahamas and Barbados guard against any threat from the sea.

US and Trinidadian officials have denied claims in the local press that the Pentagon has stationed fighter jets on an aircraft carrier offshore or on the nearby island of Tobago. Officials in Washington acknowledged, however, that the US military was playing a role in the Joint Interagency Multinational Task Force headed by the Trinidad and Tobago Government.

Felipe Noguera, the summit’s communication director, insisted that US security forces on the island would remain under the direction of the Trinidad and Tobago military. Security advisers from countries as far afield as Israel would also be working with authorities, he said.

US fighter jets are on standby on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, about 400 miles to the west.

Security forces will take no chances with Mr Obama’s safety — he will travel at all times in the rocket-proof armoured limousine known as the Beast, transported to the island in the belly of one of the 25 airplanes carrying the delegation.

Mr Obama will arrive in Trinidad shortly before the opening ceremony at 5pm local time today on board Air Force One. The entire 380-room Hilton Trinidad hotel has been given over to the US delegation.

Even if the man himself is not visible to Trinidadians, the trappings of his presidency certainly will be. The Obama delegation is more than five times the size of the next biggest — the Venezuelans with 200 delegates.

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