Caption: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
By Prior Beharry
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has dismissed the Venezuelan National Assembly’s debate to declare her “persona non grata” as “useless.”
“Venezuelans are fleeing Venezuela by the millions, so why would they think I would want to go there?” she said in a statement to AZP News on Tuesday.
“This is a useless declaration; it has no effect on my life,” Persad-Bissessar added.
Her comments come amid heightened regional tensions following the docking of the USS Gravely, a US warship, in Trinidad on Sunday for training exercises.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez have both been critical of Persad-Bissessar after she voiced support for US efforts to combat narco-trafficking in the region.
On Monday, Persad-Bissessar dismissed Venezuela’s announcement that it was suspending all energy agreements with Port of Spain, saying the move would not derail her government’s plans or influence national security policy.
Alongside its naval presence, US President Donald Trump recently confirmed authorising CIA operations in Venezuela and said he was considering ground strikes.
Since September, US forces have destroyed at least 10 boats they said were carrying narcotics, killing 43 people in international waters.
The USS Gravely’s arrival on Sunday sparked outrage in Caracas, which called it a “provocation” and claimed it was “aimed at provoking a war in the Caribbean.”
On Tuesday, responding to attempts by Venezuela to diminish her character, Persad-Bissessar hit back, saying the warships in the Caribbean belonged to the United States and questioning why Venezuelan officials were not calling US President Donald Trump by name.
“This just continues their pattern of attempting to bully their smaller neighbours while simultaneously crying for peace with more powerful countries.
“The warships engaged in the drug interdiction exercises are American property. Why isn’t Maduro and the rest of the Venezuelan government calling President Trump’s name? Why aren’t they making declarations of persona non grata against him? The answer is obvious.
“They should call President Trump’s name—he is the commander of those warships.
“My government will continue supporting drug interdiction exercises against narco-traffickers in international waters.
“Over 10,000 murders in the last twenty years, in addition to thousands of violent crimes being committed, cannot be chalked up to a gimmick public health emergency. It is a crisis that needs aggressive intervention.”
Persad-Bissessar also criticised CARICOM, whose members have urged that the Caribbean remain a zone of peace.
“I do not consider CARICOM a reliable partner, and over the next couple of years there will be a significant realignment of our foreign policy. These changes are necessary for improving our economic and physical security,” she said.
As the diplomatic row continued, a leaked memo revealed that Trinidad and Tobago was considering a “mass deportation” of undocumented migrants—most of whom are from Venezuela.
In the document, the minister of homeland security ordered that all “illegal immigrants” in detention not be released, as “consideration is currently being given to the implementation of a mass deportation exercise.”
The two nations are at odds over US-aligned Trinidad and Tobago hosting an American warship at a time when Caracas accuses Washington of seeking President Nicolás Maduro’s ouster under the guise of a military anti-drug operation in the Caribbean. – Information from AFP was also used in this article.
