On December 10, 2024, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds approved five agreements with the United States, including two that provide the DoD with the authority to send troops to Trinidad and Tobago in the case of a “conflict” in Venezuela.
The US Embassy recently released a statement stating that Prime Minister, Hinds, Energy Minister Stuart Young, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Amery Browne met and discussed security, energy, cybersecurity, and human rights problems with US diplomatic and navy personnel.
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At the Diplomatic Center in Port of Spain, Dr. Rowley met with Adm. Alvin Holsey, Commander of the US Southern Command (Southcom), and US Ambassador Candace Bond.
ACSA, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Technical Assistance Field Team, and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) were among the five accords that the group welcomed the successful completion of discussions on, according to the embassy.
Additionally, Bond and Holsey commended Rowley on T&T’s inclusion in the Southcom Human Rights Initiative and the Treaty of San José.
Bond remarked, “T&T’s leadership in implementing this framework for security co-operation demonstrates its potential as the cornerstone of peace and security in the Caribbean, and has opened the door to unprecedented and unequaled opportunities for defense co-operation between T&T and the US.”
Holsey continued, “The US is committed to providing expertise and resources to enhance T&T’s security capabilities, and these agreements deepen strategic collaboration on a host of issues.”
According to the embassy, the SOFA “will facilitate interoperability between the two countries’ armed forces.”
In response to a question concerning the significance of the agreement, Dr. Rowley said, “Please speak to the minister who signed the agreements for the Government and the people of T&T.”
Hinds and Browne did not return calls or texts.
T&T’s commitment to SOFA, which began in 2013, is described in a diplomatic letter posted on the US Embassy’s website in December 2022. The 2013 SOFA was set to expire on January 1, 2023, according to the memo.
“The Embassy has the further honor to propose to the Government of the Republic of T&T that the Government of the US and the Government of the Republic of T&T agree to further extend the 2013 SOFA, without any other changes, for an additional two years from its expiration date of January 1, 2023, to January 1, 2025.”
The diplomatic message also included the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s answer.
“The Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs of the Republic of T&T is pleased to confirm that the proposal set forth in the Embassy’s note is acceptable to the Government of the Republic of T&T and that the Embassy’s note together with this note in reply shall constitute an agreement between the two Governments which shall enter into force on the date of this note.”
In a statement released on December 10, the US Embassy stated, “The SOFA is an agreement which allows for military-to-military engagement. The US and T&T have had a SOFA agreement since 2007. The new SOFA will bring the agreement in line with US and T&T laws and will have no expiration date unless renegotiated.”
Following its approval by the Cabinet at its December 7 meeting, the SOFA was forwarded to the DoD’s lawyers, the National Security Minister, the Attorney General, and the T&T Defence Force for a final “scrubbing” before being signed on December 10.
The date of this agreement’s implementation is January 1, 2025.
The agreement’s wording was clarified during the renegotiations, including the fact that it permits civilian DoD workers to be eligible for immunity. Contractors working for the DoD are not covered by the agreement. Additionally, it allows DoD law enforcement officials to have driver’s licenses and carry guns while on duty in T&T.
Additionally, it permits US military leaders to reprimand US service members stationed in T&T.
Additionally, it permits the deployment of US troops to T&T during natural calamities.
By implementing the SOFA, the US can also send soldiers to T&T as a potential reaction in the case of a crisis on the island nation’s doorstep in Venezuela. T&T, the Caribbean’s southernmost nation, lies only a few kilometers from Venezuela. Cedros is the nearest point to it.
Similar opportunities for US forces to be sent to T&T to respond to problems in Venezuela are offered under the ACSA agreement, which was also signed on December 10.
According to the US Embassy, ACSA, “is a formal logistics mechanism that allows the US Department of Defense to exchange logistic support, supplies, and services directly between eligible countries and international organizations.”
Red tape that may impede a US deployment was eliminated by both agreements.
However, the US still needs to ask the T&T government for authorization to deploy if it is considering doing so.
The accords are not anticipated to be affected by the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, and either nation may withdraw at any moment.
A SOFA between Guyana and the US has also been inked.
It was mentioned that the 2006 SOFA between Guyana and the US permits DoD military and civilian employees to have the same status as US Embassy employees, enter and exit Guyana using their US government identification, have their driver’s licenses, which were issued in the US, accepted for use in Guyana, wear their US-issued uniforms while in Guyana, and bring weapons into Guyana upon their orders, among other things.
SOFA noted, “The embassy proposes that both governments shall waive any claims (other than contractual claims) against each other for personal injury to or death of their military or civilian personnel, or for damage, loss or destruction of the other’s military property arising out of the activities covered by this agreement.”
Following the Nicolas Maduro government’s proposal and successful vote to occupy the disputed Essequibo area, tensions between Guyana and Venezuela have been high over the past year.
There were many rumors of the Venezuelan military organizing on the Venezuelan/Guyana border, and Maduro told oil firms operating off the coast of Guyana three months to conclude their activities.
Maduro and Dr. Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana, met in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on December 14, 2023, in response to mounting concerns about instability in the area. They agreed not to increase tensions in their disagreement over the Essequibo and to refrain from using any force.
Maduro was accused of stealing from opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who was running for president of Venezuela on July 28. January 2025 will see the inauguration of the elected official, who will serve a six-year term.
In a White House press background briefing on November 27, senior administration officials discussed Maduro’s assertion that he won the election and described US measures to put more pressure on him before the election’s four-month mark.
A senior officer stated, “…It was an election in which the Venezuelans voted resoundingly to make Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia the president-elect.”
“In the months since July 28, we have given Nicolas Maduro and his representatives every opportunity to do the right thing and we have incentivized the possibility of democratic steps. Instead, Maduro and his representatives decided to use violent repression and to seize power at all costs.”
The officer added, “This is not something the US will stand for, and nor will other countries in the region stand for this.
“Therefore, the US has taken steps to increase pressure against Maduro and his representatives who are responsible for the electoral fraud that took place on July 28 and afterward and the brutal repression that we’ve seen in the last few months.”
As part of those actions, 21 cabinet-level and security officials who support Maduro and oversee the national guard, police, intelligence, and militia were sanctioned.
“All of these entities are part of Maduro’s security apparatus and are responsible for violently repressing peaceful protesters and carrying out arbitrary detentions.”
“We have also included Maduro-aligned officials who have been responsible for anti-democratic acts.”
There were also new limitations placed on Maduro, “alliance officials who have undermined the electoral process in Venezuela and are responsible for acts of repression.”
“The steps that we are taking today build on multiple actions that we have taken already to hold the current and former Venezuelan officials accountable for undermining democracy in Venezuela and to hold them accountable for violating human rights. These actions will follow similar sanctions and visa restrictions that we announced last September.”
According to the official, 180 Venezuelan officials and 100 Venezuelan organizations have been sanctioned by the US government.
