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  • 3 months ago
Former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is accusing the UNC government of what he calls a reckless and dangerous shift in Trinidad and Tobago's foreign policy.
Transcript
00:00In a strongly worded critique, former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley warns that government's
00:06quote-unquote reckless foreign policy statement not only compromises national sovereignty,
00:13but also shatters decades of Caribbean diplomatic unity. It's a foreign policy
00:18bombshell, or in his words, a match lit in the Caribbean. In a lengthy public statement posted
00:25to his Facebook page, Dr. Rowley slams the UNC administration, accusing Prime Minister
00:31Kamala Pesad-Bissassa's government of unilaterally aligning Trinidad and Tobago with U.S. military
00:38interests without public debate and at the expense of regional diplomacy. According to Dr. Rowley,
00:45the government's position signals a dangerous pivot. As the message is clear, the country has
00:52chosen a side, and it's not the Caribbean's. He expressed concern over the apparent approval
00:58for U.S. military operations in the region, potentially including the use of Trinidad
01:04as a staging ground in the event of conflict with Venezuela. The former Prime Minister warns this
01:11could be seen by Venezuela as betrayal, by Guyana as open-ended support, and by Washington as a green
01:18light with no accountability to the people of TNT. He compared this move with CARICOM's previous
01:25approach to regional conflict, when Caribbean leaders stood together to diffuse tensions between
01:31Venezuela and its neighbors. He recalls his own leadership during a 2019 diplomatic push,
01:38when CARICOM resisted Western pressure for military intervention, and instead pursued dialogue
01:44at the United Nations and through regional summits. Now, he says the government's statement's dismissal
01:51of CARICOM by declaring, quote-unquote, each member state can speak for themselves is a betrayal of the
01:58very principle of Caribbean solidarity. He raises alarm over the lack of parliamentary oversight,
02:05saying there has been no debate, nor national consultation, just an executive decision which carries
02:12implications for generations to come. He warns that Trinidad and Tobago is on the brink of becoming
02:18an American outpost, sacrificing sovereignty for short-term political gain. And for the government,
02:25he says, to use crime as a ready-made excuse to invite foreign military power into the region,
02:32Dr. Rowley says is pure deflection. He says, quote,
02:35Yes, we're drowning in blood. Yes, the murder figures are obscene. But no amount of U.S. warships
02:41parked in international waters will fix corrupt police, court backlogs, or communities abandoned
02:48by the state, end quote. The former PM accuses the sitting prime minister of being unpatriotic,
02:54saying the real test of patriotism is defending sovereignty. But the present regime treats it,
03:00he says, as disposable, transactional, and something to trade when it suits the prime minister.
03:07The government has yet to issue a formal response to this statement, but as concerns grow about
03:12foreign military presence in the Caribbean, and as the region remembers past efforts for peace,
03:18this debate is far from over.
03:20Arvishit Tawwari, Rupanarayan, TV6 News.
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