PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she is “not bothered” by the decision of Venezuela to cancel with “immediate effect” any existing contract, agreement or negotiation with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country after accusing Port of Spain of being complicit in the decision of the United States to seize a Venezuela oil tanker last week.
“They should direct their complaints to President Trump, as it is the US military that has seized the sanctioned oil tanker. In the meantime, we continue to have peaceful relations with the Venezuelan people,” Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar told the Trinidad Express newspaper.
Caracas had in the past regarded the seizure as an act of piracy and in a statement posted on her Instagram page, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez noted that “in immediate response to this ‘escalation of hostilities and serious aggressions’, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has decided to immediately terminate any existing contract, agreement, or negotiation for the supply of natural gas to Trinidad and Tobago”.
The statement noted that Caracas had “full knowledge” of Trinidad and Tobago’s participation in the “theft” of Venezuelan oil committed on December 10 by the US administration through the assault on a ship transporting the product.
It described the incident as “a serious violation of international law and a clear transgression of the principles of free navigation and trade. It blamed Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar for having “revealed a hostile agenda against Venezuela since her arrival in Government.
President Maduro has also denounced the Energy Cooperation Framework Agreement previously signed with Trinidad and Tobago.
“Faced with this ‘solemn act that aims to steal Venezuela’s oil blatantly’, the Government has decided to sever energy ties with the Caribbean nation.
“Venezuela demands respect! And it will not allow any colonial entity and its vassals to threaten the sacred sovereignty of the country and its right to development. Venezuela will always prevail,” Rodriguez said in her statement.
But Persad-Bissessar told the newspaper that Trinidad and Tobago is not dependent on Venezuelan gas.
“We have never depended on Venezuela for natural gas supplies. We have adequate reserves within our territory,” she said, adding that her administration is working to address bureaucratic systems that cause delays.
“We are aggressively working to reduce bureaucratic barriers to speed up approvals for energy companies. The real issue is that bureaucracy is hindering our exploration and production,” she added.
Last Wednesday, Guyana said the oil tanker seized by the United States earlier that day “was falsely flying the Guyana flag” and is not registered there.
In a statement, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) said it has “observed the proliferation and unacceptable use of the Guyana flag by vessels that are not registered in Guyana.”
It said that the US government had informed MARAD “that they encountered the Motor Tanker SKIPPER (ex-ADISA) IMO Number 9304667 in international waters. It was falsely flying the Guyana Flag, as it is not registered in Guyana.
US President Donald Trump had earlier said that the SKIPPER was the largest crude tanker ever seized by American authorities, even as the Venezuelan authorities called the seizure of the vessel “piracy.”
Trump said that the US would seize the oil in the tanker.
The United States has been beefing up its military presence near Venezuela, allegedly to deal with the illegal drugs trade, even as some political observers say it is part of the Donald Trump strategy to engage in regime change in Caracas.
The Trump administration has declared Maduro an alleged narco-terrorist and a key figure in Cartel of the Suns, both of which have been sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
So far, more than 80 people have been killed by the US military as they were travelling in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific, allegedly with cocaine destined for the US.
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