PM Rowley slams ‘Irresponsible’ article by Newsday about T&T’s agreement with US

Trinidad and Tobago: Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has slammed Trinidad and Tobago Newsday for publishing article under the headline “Government signs agreement as White House ups pressure on Maduro.” This article was published by the local newspaper on Thursday.  

The article said that the government had signed five agreements with the United States, at least two of which will allow for US troops to be put on duty in the country in the event of conflict in Venezuela if the government of Trinidad and Tobago allows. 

While refuting the claims stated in the article, he described it as ‘irresponsible’. The Prime Minister said that article is not based on any facts or serious research and lacks understanding of the issue addressed. 

Dr Rowley made the remarks during Thursday’s Post-Cabinet Media Briefing held at Whitehall. 

In his speech, he said, “To tell the world that we have entered into an arrangement, to tell Venezuela that we have entered into an arrangement, to tell Guyana, and to tell Caricom that this picture is representative of an action that we've taken with the head of Southcom.” 

He added, “And it's about us creating an environment where the United States can place troops in Trinidad and Tobago to respond to instability in Venezuela. Whoever did this is not acting in the interests of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.” 

While explaining reasons behind him being so disturbed, Rowley noted that not too long ago there was a situation where the US government led arguments OAS and the European Union about regime change in Venezuela and it got very heated, and got to the point where people were expecting physical action. 

He added that the European Union had given Maduro eight days to leave office, and the Canadians asked CARICOM ‘Time for talk over,’ to which PM Rowley claimed that Trinidad and Tobago, as a leader in Caricom on that matter, took a leadership role to preserve the Caribbean as a zone of peace. 

The Prime Minister said that he also visited the office of the Secretary General of the United Nations to take a different position on the Venezuelan issue. 

PM Rowley said that he did not stop there, and he again went to Uruguay and took part in generating the Montevideo Accord, which was meant to prevent any instance of the breach of the peace in the Caribbean, supported by Mexico and Norway all along. 

“Trinidad and Tobago had a leadership role in that matter, and every stage of the game you're all in the media knew what your country's position was. You knew what the dangers were. You know what we were fighting off. You know what the successes were and what the failures were,” outlined PM Keith Rowley. 

He further added that the media knew all the things they chose to covert that firm stand of the country just to create a situation. 

Disagreeing to all the comments made by Newsday in its article, Rowley outlined, “Caribbean is a zone of peace, and we are not supporting anybody's military excursion.” 

He said that this picture has nothing to do with any Venezuelan issue but everything to do with the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States, which is a very good one.