Rowley's Cost of Secrecy: T&T Steps into America's War

Donald Trump’s disdain for the United Nations is well-documented, as is his penchant for using coercion and spectacle in diplomacy, crushing tariffs, sweeping sanctions, and even reshaping truth to suit his ends. Against this backdrop, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) risks being labelled a co-conspirator of Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela. The nation has long been identified as a transshipment hub for narcotics destined for North America and Europe.

For almost two decades, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between T&T and the United States was seen as harmless, as former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley suggested. Conveniently for him, his tenure ended just as the Trump administration began exploring the agreement’s potential for enlisting T&T in its geopolitical confrontations with Caracas.

With SOFA’s shrouded complexities now exposed, T&T faces a dilemma: how to extricate itself from an agreement that has long lost its innocence. The Rowley administration’s quietly extended SOFA from a renewable two-year term to an indefinite duration complicates matters further. Could Dr. Rowley genuinely believe that citing the UN’s principle of non-interference would suffice in rejecting a U.S. military request? This notion now appears blissfully naive.

T&T should never have been caught in another nation’s conflict. Yet, successive governments since 2007 have prioritized secrecy over accountability. Had SOFA been subjected to parliamentary debate, national interest might have emerged as the guiding principle, rather than expedience. Unfortunately, opacity has prevailed.

Now, the government’s most prudent move, one it has resisted, would be to disclose the full terms of its commitments under Operation Southern Spear and clarify the reciprocal obligations of the U.S. This is vital for understanding the implications for T&T’s sovereignty. Recent revelations of a powerful U.S. radar surveillance system installed in Tobago starkly illustrate the erosion of control over territory.

What happens if one party seeks to renegotiate and the other refuses? Such a scenario could echo the old Chaguaramas base agreement (expires in 2040), which haunted our independence for decades. The pressing question now is whether we’re ready to repeat history, allowing foreign powers to dictate T&T's future once again.

Sarge

You must point out in the SOFA agreement where authority is granted to bomb and kill innocent fishermen violently. Show in the SOFA agreement where permission is granted to violate international laws. Even in the midst of the fiersest battle, survivors who are harmless or surrendered are protected. Where in the SOFA agreement permits the USA, aided and abetted by Trinidad to bomb and obliterate struggling survivors? Where is the evidence of drugs? After so many boats being bombed, and so many people being killed, not a shred of evidence on display. The USA has the wherewithal to stop, search, arrest, and bring to trial those arrested, with evidence. Where in the SOFA agreement denies that.

The entire civil world, even within the USA congress, Senate, the military are condemning the illegality and criminality of these acts, and calling for investigations. What is happening here are blatant violations of international laws; criminal. The SOFA agreement does not support that. The innocence of the agreement for 20 years was because there were sane leaders in office both in the USA and Trinidad. What we have now is a lunatic in the Whitehouse, who conveniently finds a match in TT, and together they are manipulating the world into believing that they are fighting narcotics, when, in truth and in fact, they are both interested in Venezuela's oil and gas.

Don't try to use SOFa as a scapegoat. Kamla had been ant Maduro for years. While she was in opposition she recognized Guido as President. She had continuously called on the USA to sanction Stuart Young and Keith Rowley for dealing with Venezuela. She had adopted Trump style of wild allegations, crazy talk, misinformation, character assignation of opponents. She is the female Trump long time ago. But, I warn you, that is a match made in pure hell. mark my words.

If you posted the long, useless diatribe to my thread, it tells me you can read but cannot assimilate what I wrote; I avoid emotional drivel.

I am not here to hand-feed you, since your navel string is attached to the opposition.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, I pay taxes legally due in Trinidad and Tobago, I support no political party, and I view them all as crooks.

Thus, it allows me to be a critic as I see fit.

The above is simple to understand.