TRINIDAD-PM Rowley responds to Opposition Leader remarks over his ending resignation

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC—Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley says Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar’s recent “ill-advised, direct attack on the Maduro Government” is an attempt to get the United States government to take action against Venezuela and “damage or destroy” an oil agreement between Caracas and Port of Spain.

In a statement commenting on Prime Minister Rowley’s decision to step down from office on March 16, Persad Bissessar told supporters of the main opposition, the United National Congress (UNC), not to be fooled.

“Rowley’s retirement appears not to be about riding off into the sunset but about fleeing the mess he has landed himself in with his dealings with the dictatorial, kleptocratic, drug-trafficking Maduro regime.

She added, “His hand-picked successor, Minister Young, who facilitated these deals, will soon face the same punitive fate as Rowley. ”

But writing on his Facebook page, Dr. Rowley said he wanted Trinidad and Tobago to remember how “this hateful woman” and her opposition colleague, Dr. Roodal Moonilal, “were calling on the US Government to place sanctions on Rowley and Young when we were busy trying to strike a gas supply deal with Venezuela and an OFAC license from the USA.”

He said her latest salvo is “an even more unpatriotic act,” adding, “This ill-advised, direct attack on the Maduro Government is an attempt to provoke them to scuttle any favorable dealings with Trinidad and Tobago.”

He said it is also “a call to the US Government to take action against Venezuela knowing that any such action by the US is likely to damage or destroy the current arrangements upon which Trinidad and Tobago depends for future gas supplies. How unpatriotic can this cabal get?

“The only good thing about this is that we know she knows the word “kleptocratic.”

It means stealing from the public purse. Imagine UNC persons using that word against Maduro or anybody else.

“What will this kleptocratic cabal not do to harm the people of Trinidad and Tobago?

Who is hoping to benefit from this reckless stupidity? We are being warned. Take heed,” Rowley wrote.

Dr. Rowley has acknowledged the decision of the Donald Trump administration to place sanctions on Venezuela in the past but told reporters that when Washington issued its General Licence Number 44, “that global general license to all and sundry did not limit or dampen the enthusiasm of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

“From day one, we did not put our argument or expectations on the General Licence Number 44, which expires on the 18th of April. For those who rely on that general license to do business with Venezuela, that expiry (date) is their problem. We never relied on that. Otherwise, we would’ve been in that situation.

“From day one, we took a different path. Through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), we sought to get what we call a carve-out. And that OFAC license that we got in January 2023 is folicenseears… We have received confirmation from this meeting in Washington (earlier this week) that we are not directly affected by the 18th of April activity (expiry).

“But, of course, the US government can change this position anytime. Because those of you who follow US politics, you would see by the hour what is happening with the US with its own business, passing its budget. It’s turmoil.”

The amended OFAC license issued to Trinidad and Tobago on October 17, 2023, is valid until October 31, 2025. Trinidad and Tobago also secured a 30-year exploration and production license from the government of Venezuela for the Dragon gas field on December 21, 2023.

In July last year, Venezuela Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea said Caracas had agreed to a 20-year natural gas production and exploration deal with BP and The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited.

Tellechea said the agreement allows for production from the Cocuina gas field off the Venezuelan coast. The Ministry also said that 25 percent of production will supply Trinidad’s petrochemical sector, while the rest will feed T&T’s LNG industry.

The field will reportedly produce an estimated 400 million cubic feet per day.