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CCNTV6
  • 11 months ago
Trinidad and Tobago is not a base for the U.S.
It's the assurance given by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as he seeks to dispel a media article suggesting that it is.
Urvashi Tiwari Roopnarine has more on this story.
Transcript
00:00After what he describes as an inaccurate newspaper article suggesting the U.S.
00:05can station troops here in TNT, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is doing
00:10damage control.
00:30The article was based on a Status of Forces Agreement renegotiated between TNT and the
00:45U.S. on Thursday.
00:46The so far agreement has been in place between TNT and the U.S. since 2007.
01:16The Prime Minister did not want to reveal details of the discussions, which likely took
01:26up most of his day.
01:28But Dr. Rowley said the matter was so grave it warranted discussions with the U.S. and
01:33Venezuelan counterparts and even raised eyebrows in CARICOM, discussions he was not willing
01:39to reveal.
01:40I cannot and will not share, but I will tell you, this would cause concern, has caused
01:48concern in very many areas because it is not a small article.
01:54It is all well and good to write foolishness that nobody reads, but when you write this
02:01that has far-reaching consequences, you are a danger to the national interest of Trinidad
02:07and Tobago.
02:08The country's position has always been one of non-interference and non-intervention.
02:13The Status of Forces Agreement, that's a standard agreement.
02:18That is what allows our soldiers and our Coast Guard people to interact with the United States
02:23people.
02:24You have to have an agreement.
02:26All those agreements are time-sensitive, they are required to be renewed, they are required
02:31to be established.
02:32None of them have anything to do with staging any military force from our country to anybody
02:40else's country.
02:41None of it.
02:42There is nothing that was said there by Admiral Horsley, by Minister Hines, by myself or by
02:48anybody in the government that we have changed our position so this headline is now available
02:53to make news.
02:54The United States has so far agreements with over 100 countries, with each tailored to
02:59specify the terms under which foreign military is allowed to operate in host countries.
03:05TV6 was unable to source the details of the so-far agreement with TNT, nor the template
03:11of what it usually contains.
03:14Arvishi Tiwari, Rupanarayan, TV6 News.
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