EXPERT ON VENEZUELAN WARNINGS

CCNTV6

Political and International Relations Expert, Dr. Indira Rampersad, says Venezuela is simply flexing its muscle.   She was responding to recent warnings issued to Trinidad and Tobago by senior members of the Venezuelan government.  Nicole M Romany has the details.

Transcript

00:00Venezuela's Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez announced that troops would be moving

00:07closer to Trinidad and Chebago to curb alleged smuggling and human trafficking in the Gulf

00:12of Paria.

00:13However, political and international relations expert Dr. Indiva Rampisat says the move is

00:20really a response to the United States' naval presence in the region.

00:24She argues that the claims about trafficking and fuel smuggling from Trinidad and Tobago

00:31are surprising and largely unsubstantiated and suggests Venezuela is using Trinidad and

00:37Tobago as an easier target rather than directly confronting the U.S.

00:43This is much more than this.

00:44This is Maduro flexing its muscle in the face of a superpower.

00:52But it is the untold story as well of whether this is not just a part of the U.S. and I'm

01:01not talking on the part of the U.S. whether this is not just about narco trafficking but

01:06it is also an ideological war against a socialist regime.

01:10Dr. Rampisat tells the morning edition the government campaigned on a promise to tackle crime and her

01:17research shows one of the major root causes lies in the flow of drugs and arms into the

01:23country.

01:24She explains that this is part of a global well-entrenched and highly lucrative narcotics trade that no

01:31Caribbean nation nor even the United States can fight on its own.

01:35Dr. Rampisat says Prime Minister Kamala-Pasad Bisasa acknowledged early on that Trinidad and

01:41Tobago cannot confront these criminal elements by itself.

01:44Adding that contrary to Venezuela's claims TNT should not be blamed for smuggling pointing

01:50out that while the cocaine trade is a serious issue the drug is not produced locally.

01:56The coca plant does not grow in tropical climate so the supply chain is that it comes to the

02:02Caribbean it probably even goes to Venezuela which is right next to us some Latin American

02:07countries and then it is transship for consumption because we are not a large consumption territory

02:14you put on you know like popular belief people use some marijuana small amount of cocaine in

02:19Trinidad but we don't have a drug consumption problem.

02:22It is a transshipment point we are a transshipment point to Caribbean for drugs to the United States

02:29and Europe.

02:30Though Dr. Rampisat believes the tensions between the countries will continue to rise as

02:35CARICOM and TNT is also standing in solidarity with Guyana against Venezuela.

02:41She believes the tensions will be further escalated by the US naval presence in the Caribbean Sea.

02:47However Dr. Rampisat like many others has questions about the validity of the US airstrikes.

02:54She says the facts remain unclear.

02:57Who is on these vessels?

03:00What are they carrying?

03:02Where are they headed?

03:04And if indeed the strikes actually took place.

03:07Dead men tell no tales.

03:09So the concern I think in the region is the role of the US, the US United States ships, those

03:22deadly ships in the ocean, the action of the US against Venezuela, against those boats, whether

03:32those actions are legitimate or not, whether they are justified or not, whether they are

03:38proportionate, if indeed it's narco trafficking.

03:42Venezuela's Minister of Communications and Information had previously suggested that a

03:47video released by the White House showing a naval attack on what the US deemed a drug-carrying

03:53boat coming out of Venezuela was artificial intelligence or AI generated.

04:00Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.

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