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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