Caption: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
By Prior Beharry
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the recently installed radar in Tobago by the US military is to assist with busting the movement of Venezuelan sanctioned crude oil and illegal traffickers.
She made the comment in a statement on Wednesday evening.
Persad-Bissessar said, “The new radar system assists with the detection of Venezuelan crude oil sanction-busting activities and traffickers who have been conducting deliveries of narcotics, firearms, ammunition and migrants into our country from Venezuela.
“The latest equipment enhances our surveillance capabilities and adds a superior layer of protection that was previously unavailable.”
The political leader of the United National Congress (UNC) accused the People’s National Movement (PNM) of turning a blind eye to illegal drugs and human trafficking fueled by Venezuela. She also said there was “rampant paedophilia within the hierarchy of their party.”
Persad-Bissessar said, “For ten years, the PNM allowed the local drug mafia to operate freely through unprotected borders. They turned a blind eye to illegal drugs, arms and human trafficking, as well as to allegations of rampant paedophilia within the hierarchy of their party. They did nothing tangible to improve national security while thousands of women were raped or sexually assaulted, over 5000 people were murdered, and thousands more were victims of violent robberies.
“The horrendous murder and violent crime rates for the past decade have been mainly driven by the criminal activities of the local drug mafia and sanction-busting Venezuelan criminal collaborators. The PNM’s hierarchy seems unable to extricate its party from the clutches of both criminal groups.”
She said, “The questions raised by the PNM regarding the newly installed radar are a desperate effort to force the government to disclose sensitive national security information to aid the PNM’s long-suspected local drug mafia financiers and Venezuelan criminal collaborators to circumvent surveillance.”
At a press conference earlier in the day, Trinidad and Tobago Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles called on the prime minister to take any evidence she has to the police.
Beckles said, “We will not accept this Honourable Prime Minister causing distractions and creating mischief by accusing us of supporting any narco government, and saying that we are involved in drug trafficking, and that there are financiers who are involved in drug trafficking.”
She added, “I close by saying to the Prime Minister, if you have the information, take it to the police.”
Beckles further stated she would be exploring her options as leader of the PNM “as it related to the issue of defamation,” noting Persad-Bissessar’s accusations of the PNM of spreading anti-American rhetoric was “absolutely false.”
Persadi-Bissessar urged the Opposition to hold a press conference to:
- Disclose to the citizens how long the PNM has known that the previous radar system has been compromised.
- Make public the names of the local business people affiliated with the PNM and local drug mafia who have had illegal access to classified radar surveillance information.
- Explain why the existing radar system operated under the PNM government for years, did not detect oil tankers engaged in the ship-to-ship transfer of sanctioned Venezuelan oil within Trinidadian waters, which led to the obtaining of documentation stating that Trinidad was the port of origin for this oil and not Venezuela.
- Explain to the country whether the PNM’s anti-American narrative to remove the American-supplied radar system is really due to pressure or blackmail from the local drug mafia and the previous PNM government’s crude oil sanction-busting Venezuelan collaborators.
She said, “The Government will continue efforts to protect the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, and we welcome the support of our international allies. This ongoing commitment should inspire confidence and collective responsibility among citizens and stakeholders.”
