00:00International relations expert Dr. Indira Rampasad is expressing cautious optimism, saying she wants to believe the government's explanation that the U.S. vessels are in Trinidad and Tobago solely for training purposes.
00:14The government confirmed the USS Gravely would be ducked from October 26 to 31 to conduct joint exercises aimed at enhancing regional security and combating transnational crime.
00:28However, over the weekend, the Venezuelan government accused Prime Minister Kamala Prasad-Bissessa of turning TNT into a U.S. aircraft carrier for military operations in the Caribbean, denouncing the visit as part of a false flag operation.
00:44What we are getting from the government is that this is the train, our defense force. The training and the timing of the training, yes, is a cause for concern, while tensions are escalated in the ocean between the United States and Venezuela, and this is a boat coming from the United States.
00:58So, yes, it is a cause for concern. But the government is allaying, attempting to allay the fears of the population by sending out these official bulletins from the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs with the coat of arms.
01:10So, they are official. So, let's see.
01:13Dr. Rampasad warns that anxiety is rising as more military vessels appear in the Caribbean, including here in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:23She tells the Morning Edition, while the full scope of the activity is still unclear, the nation watches closely, bracing for what might unfold next.
01:32Naval operations are allegedly against narco-traffickers. So, the coincidence or the convergence of these two events, this ship, and I think more is going to come in Trinidad, soon they mention some others, and they are shooting down of these narco-traffickers.
01:54Dr. Rampasad is questioning whether the joint training for the local defence force is truly just training, or if something more is at play.
02:16I want to know if the defence force are being trained for something else, okay? And, you know, let's face the elephant in the room.
02:25Being forced to join the U.S. in this operation for regime change, because I'm telling you, for regime change, to get Maduro, you're not going to get Maduro in the land, you know, in the ocean, you know.
02:37You have to go and land. You have to go, and you have to confront that presidential palace, or wherever he may be hiding, he may not be there.
02:45President Maduro criticised the movement of the U.S. carrier vessel as an attempt by the United States government to fabricate a new external war against his country.
02:57Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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