BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley Saturday described as “uncharted territory” the events that unfolded in Venezuela over the last few hours resulting in the invasion by United States military of the South American country and the detainment of President Nicolas Maduro, who now faces drugs and terrorism charges in the United States.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley speaking at news conference on Saturday (CMC Photo)Mottley told a news conference that she had been in contact with fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders as well as the CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett from early on Saturday morning leading to an urgent meeting of the leaders.
She said that the meeting took place just before dawn “and at that stage we recognised it was too early for us to make any defining comment and that is still the position because as we speak matters are unfolding every half hour to an hour.
“You are aware of the statements being made by different players with the President of the United States …to others,” she said, noting that “where Barbados becomes affected it is on a number of areas”.
She told reporters that this is why Bridgetown has repeated on numerous occasions “that small states can only survive in the international rules based order and for us we have always said that conflict would have consequences”
President Donald Trump says the US is going to “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. He said US oil companies will fix Venezuela’s “broken infrastructure” and “start making money for the country”.,
But in an address on state television, Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez says Maduro is the country’s only president even as Trump had earlier shared a photo he said was of Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima. The image shows him blindfolded and wearing ear defenders.
Maduro has been indicted in New York on drug and weapons charges. He has previously denied being the leader of drug cartel despite the US placing a ransom of US$50 million on his head. Venezuela has declared a national emergency, denouncing “extremely serious military aggression”.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who has been the CARICOM leader most vocal in support of Washington’s claim to fight the illegal drugs trade in the region, issue yet another statement on Saturday saying her country “looks forward to renewed cooperation and the strengthening of our longstanding friendship with the people of Venezuela in the coming years.
“May God guide and protect them as they transition away from years of oppression and dictatorship onto a new pathway toward democracy, justice and prosperity,” she said, after having earlier distanced Port of Spain from any involvement in the military action in Caracas.
Mottley told reporters that both Venezuela and the United States are “our friend” and that in both instances we have family relationships with both countries.
“By the same token the Caribbean Community has been the entity we have chosen as a matter of first principles to align our foreign policy with. When the heads of governments met this morning, all of the persons were not there because it was an emergency early meeting.
“We took a decision that we will wait for other information to become present and when that happens we will certainly act collectively and I do not want in any way to prejudice the integrity of that consultative process with CARICOM.
“Having said that I have been very clear that our principles are very very clear and that small states…can only survive in an international rules based order and that therefore anything that happens that run contrary to that would be of grave concern to us as a people in Barbados, but equally as to the region.
“So without prejudice I will await any further consultation on the specifics of this incident, but I just share with you the principles that mean a lot to us beyond the normal international law of principles,” she told reporters.
She reiterated that any statement from Bridgetown now would be just ‘conjecture” urging reporters ‘to allow the events of the next few days to play out .
“There are perspectives as to what have transpired in Venezuela that I suspect will continue to play out in the next few days. So I don’t think we are in a position to offer any meaningful commentary at this stage, what I can say is we are dealing with the consequences of a conflict and the consequences of the conflict have been exceedingly disruptive….
She said that while President Trump had indicated that there could be a second strike on Venezuela “by the same token we are hoping and praying that there will be a de-escalation of any such conflict because as I have said over and over escalation of conflict and war does not serve any one’s interest
Barbados has always held the position where there can be dialogue, where there can be conversation, let's have it and let us see where we can find a common place,” she said, adding “the truth is that’s why the UN system also exist and I fully anticipate that they too will have to have a ventilation of these issues.
“But at the same time wherever you started in this argument and to the perspective as to who is right and who is wrong, let us end up today…saying we praying for no further escalation. In fact we pray for de-escalation and we pray for dialogue.
“We are now facing firsthand how conflict can affect just not lives, but livelihoods in the southern and eastern Caribbean…and while Barbados is not the closest to Venezuela, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are, Grenada and St. Vincent and Barbados are the next line of countries…and among those five, Barbados perhaps has the biggest logistics hub for tourism”
Mottley tod reporters that as a result of the US military action a number of disruptions took place primarily with respect to Barbados’ airspace, with planes coming from the US being affected.
She said Barbados was affected by all registered US flights ‘and it is fair to say there were 13 inbound flights that were cancelled,” adding that the Dutch airline, KLM and other flights were also affected.
“For the most part, regional air travel continue to operate even though there is a tenuous situation and people are watching it because in some instances they may be affected by the closure of San Juan…
She said that the National Security Council of Barbados met this afternoon pointing out that Barbados is the closest hub to Venezuela in terms of tourism and as a result, the island would “inevitably be affected”.
She said efforts are being made to accommodate passengers who were due to fly out to Venezuela on Saturday.
“We anticipate that this situation will remain fluid…and barring no new unforeseen circumstances in Venezuela that hopefully we can get back to some level of stability as soon as possible.
She said cruise ships were also being affected by the situation.
Mottley said that she had spoken to the Barbados ambassador in Venezuela, Aquinas Clarke, early on Saturday ‘and mercifully he has a military background and is not fazed .
“There is no reports of any injuries to any Barbadians in Venezuela and for that we are grateful and we will continue to stay engaged with him”.
