PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Wednesday said Trinidad and Tobago is not involved in the moves by the United States President Donald Trump to order a “total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, speaking to reporters following the funeral service of a former government minister on Wednesday.Caracas has already described the action as “warmongering threats”.
Speaking to reporters following the funeral service of Dr. Daphne Phillips, who had served in the People’s Partnership government that Persad-Bissessar led between 2010-15, the prime minister said “Trinidad and Tobago is about Trinidad and Tobago first”.
Trump statement about the blockade followed the US seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, but he gave no details as to how the wide-ranging blockade on sanctioned oil tankers would be enforced.
Venezuela Monday said it had with “immediate effect” terminated any existing contract, agreement or negotiation with Trinidad and Tobago after accusing Port of Spain of being complicit in the decision of the United States to seize the Venezuela oil tanker.
The US has built up a military presence in international waters off Venezuela claiming it is intended to deal with the illegal drugs trade in the region.
Caracas has accused the Persad-Bissessar administration of being in cohorts with Washington in a bid to effect regime change and earlier this week, Port of Spain said it had given the US permission for its military aircraft to transit the local airspace “in the coming weeks”.
Asked by reporters whether she had been part of the moves by Washington to impose the blockade on the oil tankers, Persad-Bissessar said “our partnership with the United States is about Trinidad and Tobago safety and security here.
“Those are issues for the Trump administration and for the United States. Trinidad and Tobago is no part of that blockade. We are about Trinidad and Tobago”.
She told reporters that the government is “very happy about how things are progressing with the US and with the state of emergency” adding that “murders are down by 240.
“There are 240 less murders this year than last year. Let’s not forget that. Over 200 million in drugs busted only recently, so we are very happy…there is some good news about all of this,” she added.
Persad-Bissessar is on record as saying that those involved in the illegal drugs trade should be killed “violently” as the US continues to bomb vessels it claim to be carrying illegal drugs without any shred of evidence.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley has accused Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar of attempting to turn Trinidad and Tobago into a “vassal state” as he warned that Trinidad and Tobago’s sovereignty and national pride are being undermined.
Rowley, speaking to reporters following the funeral service of the founding member of the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM), Ferdinand “Ferdie” Ferreira on Tuesday, said that he was deeply disappointed by what he described as the direction in which the country was heading.
“I am very disappointed. I have lived in this country since 1962 and I was always tremendously proud of Trinidad and Tobago, and I am still proud of Trinidad and Tobago. As a small nation, we held our heads high.”
Rowley said that during his tenure as prime minister, Trinidad and Tobago always projected itself internationally as a confident and independent state.
“Whenever I spoke or took a position anywhere as leader of this country, the position was that we might be small, but we are not insignificant,” he said, accusing the current head of government of acting without transparency or regard for national dignity.
“I think for me it is very horrible to see a prime minister secretly, disdainfully and dismissively convert proud Trinidad and Tobago into a vassal state,” Rowley said.
As of last week, more than 30 of the 80 ships in Venezuelan waters or approaching the country were under US sanctions, according to data compiled by TankerTrackers.com.
In his statement posted on his social media, Truth Social, Trump wrote that Venezuela was “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America”.
He added that it would “only get bigger” and “be like nothing they have ever seen before”.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres called for restraint and for the immediate de-escalation of the situation
“He calls on all stakeholders to honour their obligations under international law, including the UN Charter and any other applicable legal framework to safeguard peace in the region. And of course, as always, he believes that any difference must be resolved by peaceful means,” Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General told the daily UN press briefing.
He said regarding the oil tanker blockade and whether it is a violation of international law, the UN is “looking at what the applicable laws are at this stage, and we’re studying the situation. “But certainly, parties have to abide by the UN Charte,” he said, adding “the Secretary-General is following the current situation very closely, and he is engaging with relevant parties”.
