PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley Friday dismissed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar’s call to make public the details of agreements that a local newspaper claimed would allow the United States to deploy forces to Trinidad and Tobago in the event of a “conflict” in Venezuela.
“If a country is making its territory available for another country to stage military action against that country, that is a serious matter,” Rowley told a news conference on Thursday, saying that the article by the Newsday had “far-reaching consequences” and a “danger to the national interest of Trinidad and Tobago.”
He said Persad Bissessar’s call was nothing more than her being a “Chief Misinformer and ready mischief-maker.
“She demands that the Agreement be made public. This is the same Agreement initiated under the Manning Government and existed during 2010-2015 when she was Prime Minister and should have been chairing the National Security Council,” Rowley wrote on his Facebook page.
“She didn’t publish it then. She didn’t even know it existed. But don’t be surprised at this; remember, she didn’t even know what shareholding the Government of Trinidad and Tobago had in Atlantic LNG. She had to ask for her Opposition seat in the Parliament.
“All she is interested in is destructive mischief if she believes it can help her politics,” Rowley wrote.
Newsday reported on Thursday that the government had signed five agreements with the United States, two of which could permit the US to station troops here in the event of a “conflict” in neighboring Venezuela.
Prime Minister Rowley told reporters he was “disturbed” by the newspaper article, mainly since Trinidad and Tobago is well known for not interfering 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,” he added.
Persad Bissessar, who said she was in the dark about the agreements like most of the population, called upon the government to make the details of those agreements public. She added that the government should make copies of those agreements so the population can be “fully aware of what we signed.”
She asked whether those agreements were signed with “the (outgoing Joe) Biden administration or is it the (incoming Donald) Trump administration.”
“I find it preposterous that you have a new (US) government coming in, and you are signing documents,” she said, recalling that Prime Minister Rowley and other CARICOM leaders met recently in Barbados with a US Congressional delegation to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Persad-Bissessar promises that the main opposition party, the United National Congress (UNC), will fix the matter after it wins the next general election, which is constitutionally due in August next year.
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 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.”
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