PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley Thursday dismissed a newspaper story indicating that Pot of Spain had signed an agreement with the United States allowing the North American country to deploy forces to Trinidad and Tobago in the event of a “conflict” in Venezuela.
“I had to say this today: this had to be responded to by the leadership of this country, to put to bed where there is disquiet because this article could have far-reaching consequences, not based on fact, not based on any serious research, not based on any understanding of the issue that you are trying to address,” Rowley told a news conference.
“Where did you get it from that we are in a position to make Trinidad and Tobago available to the United States for troops against Venezuela? This is a serious matter. If a country is making its territory available for another country to stage military action against that country, that is a serious matter.
“And if I don’t come here today as Prime Minister and denounce this irresponsibility. If you were in Venezuela, what would you think? What would you think? And if you are in Venezuela where Trinidad and Tobago are negotiating with you all kinds of important matters, but making its territory available for American incursions if it is determined that Venezuela has instability, what would you think,” Prime Minister Rowley told reporters, following the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Newsday newspaper reported Thursday that National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds signed off on five agreements with the United States on December 10. Two of these agreements allow the US Department of Defense (DoD) to deploy forces to this oil-rich twin island Republic in the event of a “conflict” in Venezuela.
The paper quoted a December 10 statement issued by the US Embassy here stating that Rowley, Hinds, Energy Minister Stuart Young, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne met and held talks with US diplomatic and navy officials on security, energy, cybersecurity, and human rights issues.
Earlier this week, defense and security leaders from the Caribbean meet here to exchange ideas, experiences, and perspectives on regional collaborative efforts to address security challenges in the 21st century.
United States Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, the commander of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), attended the 2024 Caribbean Nations Security Conference (CANSEC) on Wednesday.
According to the US Embassy statement issued on December 10, United States Ambassador Candace Bond and Admiral Holsey met with Prime Minister Rowley and other government ministers for discussions “on security, energy, cybersecurity, and human rights cooperation.”
At the meeting, Ambassador Bond, Admiral Holsey, and Prime Minister Rowley celebrated the successful conclusion of negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which will facilitate interoperability between the two countries’ armed forces, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Technical Assistance Field Team (CBSI-TAFT), and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).
The SOFA is an agreement that allows for military-to-military engagement. The United States and Trinidad and Tobago have had an SOFA agreement since 2007. According to the US Embassy, the new SOFA will bring the agreement in line with US and TT laws and will have no expiration date unless renegotiated,
The 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.
The Embassy statement said Ambassador Bond and Admiral Holsey congratulated Prime Minister Rowley for Trinidad and Tobago’s accession to the Treaty of San José and the SOUTHCOM Human Rights Initiative.
“Trinidad and Tobago’s leadership in implementing this framework for security cooperation 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 cooperation between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States,” she said.
For his part, Admiral Holsey is quoted in the statement as saying, “The United States is committed to providing expertise and resources to enhance Trinidad and Tobago’s security capabilities, and these agreements deepen strategic collaboration on a host of issues.”
In the front page story on Thursday, Newsday said that it understood that “Cabinet approved the SOFA at its meeting on December 7, and the document was sent to attorneys for the DoD, the National Security Minister, the Attorney General, and the TT Defence Force for final “scrubbing” before being signed on December 10. “It added that “this agreement will take effect on January 1, 2025.”
“The renegotiations included clarification of the language used in the agreement, including that it allows for civilian employees of the DoD to qualify for immunities. The agreement does not cover contractors employed with the DoD. It also makes allowances for DoD law-enforcement officers to carry firearms while deployed in TT and for driver’s permits for those employees., the paper reported, adding, “In the event of a conflict on TT’s doorstep in Venezuela, the US can also deploy troops to TT for a possible response by enacting the SOFA. As the southernmost country in the Caribbean, TT is mere miles away from Venezuela. Its closest point is Cedros”.
The newspaper said that Guyana has also signed a SOFA with Washington.
“While Newsday has not seen the current agreement, the SOFA signed in 2006 between Guyana and the US allows for DoD military and civilian employees to be granted status equal to US Embassy staff; be allowed to enter and leave Guyana with their US Government IDs; have their driver’s permits – issued in the US – accepted for use in Guyana; be authorized to wear their US-issued uniforms in Guyana; and be permitted to bring weapons into Guyana based on their orders, among other provisions.”
The newspaper said that the “ACSA agreement, also signed on December 10, provides a similar opportunity for US troops to be deployed to TT to respond to conflicts in Venezuela”.
But Prime Minister Rowley told reporters that he was “disturbed” by the newspaper article, mainly because Trinidad and Tobago is well known to not interfere in countries’ internal affairs and plays a leading role in ensuring that the Caribbean remains a zone of peace.
“I know there are people in this country…who would like our initiatives to bear no fruit and to come to naught. But this is going too far. This is going too far”.
Rowley said there are three national newspapers in the country, and Admiral Holsey’s visit was “well known and well covered by our media and the American media.
‘How come the other two newspapers did not have this in their story…if that was the outcome and that was the position…where did this come from,” said Rowley, confirming the contents of the US Embassy statement on the deliberations with the US officials.
He said Trinidad and Tobago and the United States enjoy good relations, and Washington even provides the country with two aircraft to patrol its marine space.
“They have pretty much come to the end of their useful life, and we are paying a huge amount of money now to maintain them…we have been trying to replace them by seeking assistance from the United States to replace them”.
Rowley said that while it “appears now that that would not be forthcoming because of the US government policy,” his administration has been holding talks with the US EX-IM bank on utilizing the US$500 million that is being made available to Port of Spain “to meet its needs and matters of national security and other things,” including replacing the two aircraft.
“That is where we are right now. That’s the kind of relationship we have,” Rowley said, noting that when Admiral Holsey became head of SOUTHCOM, one of the first countries he visited was Trinidad and Tobago.
Rowley also said many local security officials participate in training in the United States, “but none of that has anything to do with any potential for the placement of United States troops in Trinidad and Tobago to deal with any issue in Venezuela.”
Rowley said that in addition to the US, Port of Spain relies on other Western countries, including the British and French, to help in natural disasters or transnational criminal activities.
“This is a typical day’s work in Trinidad and Tobago; why would that be transmitted on the front page of a newspaper, misrepresenting the fact that this has to do with Trinidad and Tobago making its territory available when, in fact, it is the opposite?
‘We don’t countenance, one, a breach of the peace in the region and two, we will not facilitate any such thing, and our actions speak louder than our words on this matter,” Rowley said, adding that when the article was printed “immediately the entire CARICOM (Caribbean Community) becomes concerns because it is so far from what Trinidad and Tobago represents and has represented in recent years, months and days.
‘Where did this come from,” he said, adding that when the newspaper article is published and placed on the worldwide internet that ‘this little island nation is making its territory available to the United States to threaten Venezuela, is that what the editors think.
“And if there is any deterioration in Venezuela, you think Trinidad and Tobago will be a staging post for that,” Rowley said, adding, “It is all well and good to write foolishness nobody reads, but when you write this that has far-reaching consequences you are a danger to the national interest of Trinidad and Tobago.”
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