00:00It is indeed a great day for Trinidad and Tobago.
00:04Prime Minister Kamala Passat, the Cesar's first trip as Prime Minister in this term
00:09to the United Nations and later Washington, has delivered the most telling achievement
00:14in obtaining the United States government's support for our renewed proposal to resurrect the Dragon Project.
00:23Energy Minister Dr. Rudal Munilal speaking with TV6 News following the announcement
00:27by the Office of the Prime Minister that subsequent to the bilateral meeting
00:30between the United States' top diplomat and the Prime Minister,
00:34that the government of Trinidad and Tobago was informed that the Secretary of State
00:37supports the approval of the relevant Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, licenses
00:43to begin discussions toward developing its cross-border hydrocarbons.
00:49It was in April, before the 2025 general election, that the then-Prime Minister, Stuart Young,
00:55made this announcement with regard to licenses granted by the former Biden administration
01:01in the U.S. for the supply of natural gas from Venezuela.
01:04We have now been informed that our license from OFAC, which is dated the 18th of December 2023,
01:15has been revoked by OFAC, and that license is now revoked by OFAC, as well as our Coquina mannequin license.
01:23Now, it seems that the dragon is dancing again, so to speak, but this time under the administration
01:29led by Prime Minister Passat-Mesessa, which has given its full support for recent U.S. military strikes
01:35against what the U.S. says were boats with narco-terrorists carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela.
01:42In four short months, the Prime Minister has delivered a profound and most remarkable contribution
01:49to our economic recovery.
01:51Prime Minister Passat-Mesessa only gave brief remarks in Washington
01:54following the bilateral meeting at the U.S. State Department.
01:58We just had a meeting with Secretary of State, Mr. Rubio.
02:03We had some very important discussions for bilateral interests, and more we'll discuss later.
02:10We have some good news that we'll share with you later.
02:12We head back now to New York City, and we look forward to returning home tomorrow.
02:18The Office of the Prime Minister later said that, with respect to energy security,
02:22the Prime Minister engaged in intensive discussions with the Secretary,
02:26who assured that the prosperity of Trinidad and Tobago was in the interest of the United States of America.
02:32The State Department issued a statement following the bilateral meeting
02:36between Secretary Rubio and Prime Minister Passat-Mesessa, which said,
02:39The Secretary acknowledged the importance of energy security to Trinidad and Tobago's economic prosperity
02:45and regional stability.
02:47He outlined U.S. support for the government's drug and gas proposal
02:51and steps to ensure it will not provide significant benefit to the Maduro regime.
02:58A reference to the government in Venezuela led by Venezuela's President, Nicolas Maduro.
03:02The State Department said that Secretary Rubio emphasized that deepening U.S.-Trinidad and Tobago cooperation
03:09will be critical to disrupting narco-trafficking networks,
03:13strengthening regional security, and safeguarding the region.
03:17Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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