00:00Questioned by the media upon entering the Red House in Port of Spain on Wednesday afternoon,
00:05Prime Minister Kamala Passat beset us out to explain the reason why a U.S. Air Force aircraft
00:10had made a brief stopover in Tobago on Wednesday morning.
00:14They are helping us with something to do at the airport.
00:17They are helping us with a little bit of a movie.
00:20The Marines are here, they train, they're all people.
00:22That's what it was about.
00:24It's not a military force as such.
00:26They're not doing it wrong. We are not about to launch any campaign against Venezuela.
00:31I mean, that's very clear.
00:32Trinidad has not been asked to be a base for any war against Venezuela.
00:37This stopover occurred one day after the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane,
00:44visited Trinidad and Tobago for high-level talks with the Prime Minister.
00:48The Venezuelan government has been critical of the recent joint military exercises in Trinidad and Tobago
00:53by U.S. Marine units and the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force.
00:57Venezuela's government, led by President Nicolas Maduro, claims the recent build-up of the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean
01:03is about regime change in Venezuela.
01:06The U.S. government, led by President Donald Trump, says the major U.S. military presence in the Caribbean
01:11is for its war on drug cartels.
01:14Prime Minister Passat beset us also made clear what was not discussed during her meeting with General Kane.
01:21Venezuela was not mentioned yesterday if we were on to be anti-trafficking, drug trafficking, gun running, human trafficking.
01:30Those are the issues we have been discussed about.
01:32Prime Minister Passat beset us was asked if her administration recognizes Mr. Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
01:40I will tell you this, we stand with the people of Venezuela.
01:43We stand with the people of Venezuela.
01:45Prime Minister Passat beset us wrote to an ex that the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago have nothing to worry about
01:51and that her government will continue to keep the nation fully informed.
01:56Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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