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Prime Minister Kamla Persad--Bissessar is standing up to what she describes as Venezuelan “bullies”, saying she remains undaunted by their behaviour. She further questioned the silence of these “bullies” on United States President Donald Trump. Persad-Bissessar said Venezuela’s Parliament’s declaration of her as “persona non grata”—an unwelcome person—has no effect on her life. Since the arrival of the US warship, the USS Gravely, in Trinidad and Tobago’s waters on Sunday, the Venezuelan government has launched a series of attacks on the Persad-Bissessar-led administration. For three consecutive days, Caracas has thrown words across the Gulf, which escalated yesterday with a parliamentary move to officially rebuke and bar the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister from entering Venezuela. This move followed the suspension of gas agreements with T&T on Monday. Prior to this on Sunday, the Venezuelan government claimed the US’ CIA and this country were plotting to wage war on Venezuela and that it had captured CIA mercenaries but provided no evidence to substantiate this. When contacted by the Express yesterday about yesterday’s declaration, Persad-Bissessar responded: “I am not daunted by this at all. This just continues their pattern of bullying behaviour against their neighbours. The warships engaged in the drug-interdiction exercises are American property; why isn’t Maduro and the rest of the Venezuelan government calling President Trump’s name? Why aren’t they making declarations of persona non grata against him? The answer is obvious. They should call President Trump’s name; he is the commander of those warships. My Government will continue supporting drug-interdiction exercises against narco-traffickers in international waters.” She added: “Over ten thousand murders in the last 20 years in addition to thousands of violent crimes being committed cannot be chalked up to a gimmick public health emergency. It is a crisis that needs aggressive intervention.” Persad-Bissessar noted that millions have fled Venezuela, reiterating that she is unfazed by the -declaration. “Venezuelans are fleeing Venezuela by the millions, so why would they think I would want to go there? This is a useless declaration; it has no effect on my life. This just continues their pattern of attempting to bully their smaller neighbours while simultaneously crying for peace with more powerful countries,” she said. Would you give up your US visa? The Prime Minister also questioned whether critics of the United States’ anti-narcotics operations would be willing to give up their American privileges. “The masses of PNM folks against T&T backing of the US, you think they would gladly trade in their US visas and go shop and vacation in Venezuela?” she asked. On Monday night, Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, announced the suspension of gas agreements with Trinidad and Tobago. Persad-Bissessar reiterated yesterday that her administration was not reliant on Venezuelan energy deals, pointing fingers instead at the previous PNM government. “The PNM sold a bill of goods that Venezuelan gas was ‘the golden fleece’ which, if not realised, would mean ‘we coo-coo cooked’. From 1908 to present, we built an oil and gas industry without importing any Venezuelan natural gas. “We have imported some Venezuelan crude oil for the refinery, but we also imported crude oil from many countries. “Our country’s energy sector became a respected global force through the efforts of our citizens working in collaboration with investors from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan. Venezuela has never really been part of the T&T energy story,” she said. The Prime Minister stressed that T&T’s economic future does not depend on any partnership with Venezuela, highlighting her Government’s ongoing diversification plans. “We are not susceptible to any blackmail from Venezuela for political support. “We continue to maintain very peaceful relations with the people of Venezuela and we have not had any energy discussions with the Venezuelan government since we came into office,” she said. No plans for T&T to be used as a base ► sub head ◄ Persad-Bissessar also announced that next week the Government will launch consultations with stakeholders across the State enterprise sector, private sector and public sector. “We are not putting all our eggs in the energy basket, and most certainly we are not putting all our eggs in the Dragon basket,” she said. The Prime Minister also firmly rejected the Venezuelan government’s claims that Trinidad and Tobago and the CIA were conspiring to wage war against Venezuela. “That is not true. What is taking place now are joint training exercises between the US and our military here for improving our internal -security,” she said. Persad-Bissessar stressed her commitment to citizen safety and the fight against transnational crime. “We are tired of seeing our citi-zens murdered, terrorised because of gang violence driven by drugs illegally, arms trafficking, human trafficking. The safety of our citizens is my duty and my main concern, and we will do what we can to keep them safe and to make them safer,” she said. She also dismissed Venezuelan officials’ claims that Trinidad and Tobago was being used as a base for US military operations. “I say categorically we have no plans for Trinidad and Tobago to be used as a base for any military interventions anywhere else,” she said, adding that there has been no such request from the US. Persad-Bissessar reaffirmed her Government stands in solidarity with the people of Venezuela, while maintaining strong bilateral ties with the United States—one of T&T’s largest trading partners. She said the US Navy’s presence in Trinidad includes humanitarian and capacity-building missions. “That is what this visit is all about—military cooperation for training, and humanitarian benefits as well to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” she said. The US Embassy in Port of Spain yesterday shared photographs of Cedros students visiting the USS Gravely. The Prime Minister thanked US Chargé d’Affaires Dr Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz, saying, “I thank Ms Neidhart Ortiz and the embassy staff for facilitating the students. Mrs Ortiz has been doing an amazing job in assisting us to upgrade our internal national security over the last few months as well as with other projects.”
