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CCNTV6
  • 5 months ago
Why is Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar skipping the upcoming CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting?
International Relations Specialist Dr. Anthony Gonzales... says the public deserves an explanation.
Transcript
00:00I would like to see an explanation.
00:02I don't know what the public thinks.
00:07I'm hoping that this is just a one-off.
00:11One would expect that the Prime Minister would go to these meetings.
00:15So I'm hoping that this is just an odd event and that in the future that we would see the
00:22presence of our Prime Minister there.
00:24So, you know, we just have to wait and see.
00:30The Prime Minister's decision not to attend the upcoming CARICOM meeting in Jamaica is
00:35troubling to the international relations expert, who notes there is a reason why the meeting
00:41is termed heads of government.
00:43It plays a pretty important role in CARICOM, so that if they have critical decisions to
00:49make and they feel that they need to discuss them with the Prime Minister and so on and
00:54it's difficult to discuss this with a minister, a minister who may have to be going back and
00:59forth to the Prime Minister to get a final decision, you see, so that it's not very convenient to
01:08discuss some of these things just with a minister present.
01:13You would need for the presence of the Prime Minister to fully discuss these things.
01:17He further notes the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting comes mere days after TNT hosted the
01:22Prime Minister of India and presented him with all highest award, the Order of the Republic
01:28of Trinidad and Tobago.
01:30It's not really a justification for not going to the meeting.
01:35I think these things have to be planned in such a way that you make enough time between
01:41these meetings.
01:43And if you were planning to have Mr. Moody here just before the summit, you would arrange
01:48it in such a way that you can get to Jamaica in time for the CARICOM meeting.
01:52So I don't think that really should be a hindrance, but as I said, I don't have all the information.
01:57I can't say definitely what took place.
02:01Dr. Gonzales says there are issues which will arise at the meeting, which TNT has vested interest
02:07in.
02:08For instance, the OECS countries, at least some of them are threatening to opt out of CARICOM,
02:17or some of them want certain changes in the single market and economy.
02:22So that I would think that's an important issue, especially for Trinidad and Tobago that exports
02:30a lot of its manufactured goods to these countries.
02:34So that the whole question of the unity of CARICOM is at stake here, and that an issue
02:42like that, I think the presence of our Prime Minister could have an impact.
02:49Also think that there's the issue of the United States tariffs and what the United States is
02:55doing in the region.
02:57I think that would also be an important issue that would be discussed at this meeting.
03:02And again, I would like to see a united CARICOM stand on this question of what are we saying
03:09towards the United States.
03:11Meantime, leader of the movement for social justice, David Abdullah, has joined under the banner of the
03:17Assembly of Caribbean People, which is calling on CARICOM to take action against Israel for their
03:22acts against Palestine, including, but not limited to, lawful sanctions, as well as the suspension of
03:29all cultural, sport, economic and trade relations.
03:34Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
03:37Brought to you a lot of people.
03:39That's a lot.
03:41Our partner, our partner, the community, the community, the management of the United States,
03:43we've been able to participate in this meeting, and we still have to see a lot of!!!!!
03:45So let's take a deep breath.
03:46Okay.
03:47Let's take a deep breath.
03:48We'll come back.
03:49We'll be clear.
03:50We'll come back.
03:50We'll be clear, you know it.
03:51But we'll be clear.
03:52We'll be clear.
03:53We'll be clear.
03:55We'll be clear.
03:55We'll be clear here.
03:57We'll be clear.
03:58We'll be clear.
03:59We'll be clear.
04:01We'll be clear.
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