Venezuelan minister claims US military aims to protect T&T

Venezuelan minister claims US military aims to protect T&T

Venezuela’s Justice Minister, Diosdado Cabello, claims that a former US intelligence officer believes the United States is sending a strong message to Venezuela not to interfere with Trinidad and Tobago.

On his weekly television programme, Cabello referred to comments made by a former US Naval Intelligence Officer, suggesting that the US could come to T&T’s aid in the event of any military conflict between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.He said the military expert believes that the Americans are issuing a strong warning to Cabello and other senior Venezuelan government officials not to interfere with T&T.

“Do you know that something is cooking behind your back in Venezuela? Today Jesús Romero, Commander of Intelligence of the US Southern Command, tells us about the scenarios… they are all experts in chaos, in lying, they are all swindlers,” Cabello said.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her government is not after regime change in Venezuela.

The PM returned home last night from her trip to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and where she also travelled to Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.All Cabinet ministers showed up at the airport to welcome the Prime Minister home.However, the PM returns home as the New York Times reports that top aides to President Trump are pushing for the ousting of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.

When Guardian Media asked the Prime Minister about this, she stated that regime change in Venezuela is not on her government’s agenda.“There has been no conversation about regime change,” the PM asserted. “Our concern has always been to see how we’ll deal with the criminals—the narco traffickers, the human traffickers, the gun runners—that has been my concern.“We can’t continue to do things the same way, every day. We can’t continue to move backwards and don’t go forward. We’ve done that for years and Trinidad has become number six in the world—the number six most murderous country in the world,” she pointed out.

The PM stated: “I think this partnership with the U.S. … it is not about regime change for us here in Trinidad and Tobago. It is about securing [our] safety … and security.”And the PM also said she's confident both T&T and Venezuela will be able to reach an agreement on the Dragon Gas deal.“We will work the details out and we’ll share them with you,” the PM said.“The projects benefit Venezuela,” she said. “They benefit the United States, and they benefit Trinidad and Tobago. I am confident we’ll be able to work things out.”