Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has vehemently denied that T&T intends to permit US forces to establish a base here to respond to any turmoil in neighboring Venezuela, given the increased pressure from the US administration on Venezuela.
During a recent post-Cabinet media briefing at Whitehall in Port-of-Spain, Rowley stated that he had initially no plans to call a media conference but that there were “serious implications” from an article titled “US can put troops in T&T,” which falsely claimed that the US and T&T had signed an agreement that would permit the US to send troops to T&T in the event of a potential conflict in Venezuela.
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The piece sent a wrong message to the globe, particularly Venezuela, Guyana, and Caricom, and Rowley called it “dangerous incompetence” and “wholly irresponsible.”
According to the prime minister, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) mentioned in the article is distinct and unrelated to any problems between the US and Venezuela.
PM Rowley stated, “I am not discussing the agreement, I am simply saying that your interpretation of the agreement, that the United States can put troops in Trinidad and Tobago, is not what this is about … I’m simply saying that your interpretation … is wrong.”
Regarding the contents of the SOFA, he stated, “It allows our security agencies to have a relationship with the United States so as to improve the quality of our … that’s why we’re involved in it … of our security services.”
Additionally, he stated that T&T has ties to both Venezuela and the United States.
“We don’t [have a volatile relationship with Venezuela], and we also have a very good relationship with the United States. We operate as an independent country free to make our own foreign policy and treat with our associates as our national interests dictate.”
To bolster his claim that T&T and Caricom had consistently been a “zone of peace,” the PM inquired, “Why then, would you convert that firm stand of your country to create a situation?”
In addition, he disclosed that Stuart Young, the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, had recently returned from a visit to Venezuela.
He posed a rhetorical question, “What has changed to cause Trinidad and Tobago to be a platform for foreign troops on its territory in response to a Venezuelan situation?”
At the Diplomatic Center in Port-of-Spain earlier this week, Rowley met with Admiral Alvin Holsey, Commander of the US Southern Command (Southcom), and US Ambassador Candace Bond.
According to a US official statement, Bond and Rowley met to talk about issues related to human rights cooperation, energy, and security.
The problem arises at a time when Guyana and Venezuela are engaged in a verbal battle.
In the wake of a July election in which President Nicolás Maduro was accused by his rivals of fabricating a victory, the United States acknowledged Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González as the legitimate president-elect.
Before this, Maduro warned Caricom to be cautious of US Southern Command’s plans in Guyana after Guyanese President Irfaan Ali had met with US military officials.
Guyana’s and ExxonMobil’s oil development in the disputed Essequibo region’s territorial seas has escalated tensions between Venezuela and Guyana in recent years.
Information from the piece that infuriated Rowley was disseminated by the global media.
According to Telesur’s Spanish version, “Recently, the government of Guyana signed security agreements with the United States. Negotiations in this regard with T&T would confirm Washington’s intention to expand interventionism in the region to harm the revolutionary processes such as those in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, and to control resources.”
The media outlet likely misinterpreted the agreements between T&T and the United States, according to Dr. Anthony Gonzales, a retired director of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Institute of International Relations.
“I am not clear what his political motive was but it certainly would send a wrong message to Venezuela. The Prime Minister had indeed to clarify that. We have a security cooperation arrangement with the US that covers a wide range of problems plaguing the region. The Venezuelans would understand that. Obviously, if we allow US troops on our soil to attack Venezuela, that would be another matter but that is not the intent of these agreements. The journalist should have known better.”
