BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC- Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, on Wednesday, said she had been invited to attend a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami early next month.
Persad-Bissessar told reporters that the invitation had been made during the bilateral talks she held with the visiting United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, before he met with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders on the first working day of their 50th regular CARICOM summit, which ends here on Friday.
Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has also confirmed that he had been invited to the meeting.
The United States under President Donald Trump has sought to reassert its dominance in the Americas and has already invited the leaders of Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Honduras to the summit in Miami.
While no details have been made public about the summit, media reports said that it would focus on countering China, a major Latin American trading partner.
“Today with him, we talked about Haiti, we talked about Cuba, of course, we talked about engagements with Venezuela on the way forward,” Persad-Bissessar told reporters, adding “and he committed on the seventh (March) when we meet President Trump, more details will be shared on several of the things that I raised with him today”.
She said that the meeting with Rubio also discussed further cooperation in energy and in security.
“We discussed the reopening of the Petrotrin refinery. As you know, we have been very serious about reopening that refinery, and the Secretary agreed to put us in touch with their Department of Energy. It assists us in seeking to find the best partner to open that refinery,” Persad-Bissessar added.
She told reporters that” we’ve had several persons so far with expressions of interest. At the end of the day, we’ll choose the best that we think we can get. So I know my Minister of Energy had met with Ornando, and I met one of them here today.”
She also said that the African Bank “also wants to have a bilateral with us …and several of the CARICOM states have asked for one-on-one bilaterals with Trinidad and Tobago.”
Persad-Bissessar said that during her meeting with Rubio, she found him to be “very brisk, very bright, and very articulate.
“If you noticed this morning when he addressed the (CARICOM heads) gathering earlier, I said to (Foreign Affairs Minister) Sean (Sobers), he doesn’t have a teleprompter. He’s not looking down. He was speaking off the top of his head. So he’s very familiar with the issues in the region, and he could have spoken there.”
She said that Rubio’s first encounter with the leaders was “very generic” and that more details would be raised when the CARICOM-US joint meeting is held later on Wednesday.
Sobers said that the government remains hopeful that “our continued close relationship with the US will see Trinidad and Tobago’s fortunes continue to grow, and with the Prime Minister’s leadership, that is the direction that Trinidad and Tobago is going to go in.”
He defended Persad-Bisessar’s statement at the opening of the CRICOM summit on Tuesday evening, in which she was critical of Cuba’s lack of democratic rule.
“The Prime Minister made it abundantly clear yesterday. We are all here as elected members of Parliament, democratically elected, and it is really hypocritical to call ourselves so elected and then support a system that proffers or holds up dictatorship. And so we stand with the people of Cuba, but we call for free and fair elections.
“That is our position,” he said, noting that Port of Spain is not worried by backlash as a result of its position.
“No, I don’t think it’s a matter for worry. We are entirely within the confines of the Treaty of Chaguramas, our founding document, which states that nation-states are free to pursue their foreign policy decisions and directives, as well as in matters of national security.
“Those are left in the sovereignty of each of the CARICOM states. So I’m not worried. We are within the law of a foundational document, the Treaty of Chaguramas, which was signed in Trinidad and Tobago, of course,” he added.
Rubio also met with the CARICOM chair, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Terrance Drew, and the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali.
A brief statement by the US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, said Rubio thanked Prime Minister Drew for St. Kitts and Nevis’s leadership and hospitality.
“They discussed strengthening regional security cooperation to combat transnational crime and ending illegal immigration. The Secretary emphasized the United States’ dedication to working closely with St. Kitts and Nevis as a valued partner and also discussed Saint Kitts and Nevis’ strong and enduring partnership with Taiwan.”
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