U.S. assisted radar installation in Trinidad & Tobago raises questions amid tensions with Venezuela

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Trinidad and Tobago faces public backlash as U.S.-backed radar installation in the Caribbean country stir fears amid growing tensions with Venezuela. Our correspondent Krystal Hoyte has more. teleSUR  These and more stories now!

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00:00Freedom and Tobago faces public backlash as U.S. back radar installation

00:04in the Caribbean countries stir fears amid growing tensions with Venezuela.

00:08A correspondent, Crystal Hoyt, brings us the more details.

00:12Trinidad and Tobago's government has confirmed that the United States is assisting

00:16with the installation of a new radar system in Tobago,

00:20a development drawing heightened public interest as U.S. and Venezuela's tensions continue to grow.

00:27Prime Minister Kamala Prasad-Bassassar acknowledged that U.S. technical teams are on island

00:33to support the installation, but did not confirm the presence of U.S. troops

00:38beyond those directly involved in the project.

00:42The red comes after reports of U.S. personnel being seen in Tobago,

00:47sparking debate about the scale and purpose of the collaboration.

00:51Officials maintain the project is limited to strengthening maritime and aviation surveillance,

00:55a standing priority for the country, but the timing has amplified public scrutiny.

01:01Well, I didn't feel good about it because you know it's a regional piece.

01:06And when you say military to income, you had a question because America does that.

01:10They have a doctrine.

01:11You know, America's doctrine, if you know them and you study history,

01:15you see what goes on in the island.

01:16And you can't get a good feeling about it, especially with the government.

01:19You don't know what they're saying, what is true, what is like.

01:21But that is how the world is.

01:24People come with ideology and ideas, and they take over,

01:27and the small people don't have to suffer.

01:29That is how it is.

01:30But it's not controlled by we, so we've been controlled by the Americans.

01:34Because if the thing's feeding back to America,

01:37we are not saying somebody is getting paid,

01:39somebody is getting something to hold something.

01:42And that is how, when you put government, that is how the politics play.

01:45The new radar will expand monitoring of vessel movement between Trinidad, Tobago,

01:50and even border areas closer to Venezuela,

01:54which has seen increased activity with a number of airstrikes.

02:00For now, installation continues, and authorities insist the upgraded radar

02:04will improve Trinidad and Tobago's ability to protect its borders

02:08at a time when the geopolitical landscape in the southern Caribbean is rapidly evolving.

02:13Priscilla Hoyt, Tala Sur, Barbados.

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