00:00I wanted to ask about the 3DS warships that are being sent to Venezuela, and there's 4,000 Marines on board.
00:06Are you looking at the possibility of boots on the ground there?
00:09What I will say with respect to Venezuela, President Trump has been very clear and consistent.
00:14He's prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.
00:23The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela.
00:25It is a narco-terror cartel.
00:27And Maduro, it is the view of this administration, is not a legitimate president.
00:32He is a fugitive head of this cartel who has been indicted in the United States for trafficking drugs into the country.
00:38Apparent confirmation from the White House that the United States is deploying troops just off Venezuela's waters, as previously reported by international media.
00:49Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has since responded by activating over 4 million militias across the country.
00:57Trinidad and Tobago has not made any statement or taken any stance in the midst of the escalating tensions, a position supported by one political analyst.
01:08Trinidad cannot just go and intervene without a request to do so from either party, from either Venezuela or the United States.
01:19And if such a request is not forthcoming, Trinidad and Tobago really should stay put and not intervene.
01:29If that request is forthcoming from either party, then they will have to consider their options.
01:34If our citizens are not held to ransom, if our citizens are not affected, if Trinidad and Tobago is not affected, then the best advice is to stay put and to see how the matter unfolds.
01:51Dr. Rampasad notes there has been long-standing tension between the two countries, during which Trinidad and Tobago has always remained neutral.
02:00She says if matters do escalate further, however, a number of considerations will have to be taken.
02:30There has been long-standing tension between the United States and Venezuela.
02:35There has been some disagreements between the UNC government and the Venezuelan governments in recent times.
02:47But we have to be careful about assuming things that tensions with regard to one issue is going to, you know, escalate into the other issue.
03:01It doesn't work like that.
03:02Indirectly, all countries in the Caribbean and Latin America may be impacted in the escalation of tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
03:13But then we also have to consider our relationship in other groups, for example, CARICOM.
03:19What's the position of CARICOM?
03:20We are also in the Association of Caribbean States, which include Latin America, Latin American countries.
03:29What's the position of the Association of Caribbean States?
03:33So it's whether we are going to go unilaterally and take a position.
03:36But we have to be invited, again, or impacted, should be invited or impacted, before we can make a decision on what position we're going to take.
03:49I'm talking about the government when I say we.
03:50Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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