00:00Trinidad and Tobago is already past the point of easy retreat.
00:05This according to political analyst and director of cadres Peter Wickham.
00:10On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved U.S. military aircraft
00:15to transit through this country's airports.
00:18Within hours, Venezuela cancelled all energy agreements with TNT.
00:23Today, Wickham warns that this country is now treading in very murky geopolitical waters.
00:30I think that you're in too deep.
00:33My sense is that there is a hope that matters will not escalate.
00:37You know, if Maduro left office tomorrow, this would have worked.
00:42And it would have worked simply because you've had your bets, it has worked out.
00:45And you can continue to establish relations with the new administration and you can move on.
00:50If it works, the challenge I'm having is that if Maduro decides to dig his heels in
00:56and it gets messier, then that's the problem.
00:58But I don't believe that Trinidad and Tobago can walk by the situation
01:01because, I mean, we pretty much all know what's going on.
01:04According to Wickham, Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissasa
01:08appears to be attempting to hedge her bets
01:10so that if President Nicolas Maduro remains in office,
01:15she's keeping negotiating channels open.
01:17However, he says, she appears to also be positioning herself
01:21to immediately engage a new administration
01:24should there be regime change in Venezuela.
01:28Wickham warns that this balancing act leaves Trinidad and Tobago exposed
01:33and argues the country has reached a point
01:37where it may no longer be able to straddle both sides.
01:41I think that we are now reaching a critical phase.
01:44You know, the military assets have been there now for some weeks.
01:48My sense is that they're needed elsewhere and they can't stay forever.
01:52So it's essentially that they need to do something and do something quickly.
01:55Maduro doesn't appear to want to leave.
01:58And against that background, you know, it's going to get messier and messier.
02:02And sadly, as we approach the Yuletide season,
02:06it appears as though this is going to be crunch time.
02:08Wickham says the position of other Karikam leaders
02:11underscores the gravity of the movement
02:14as they continue to insist the Caribbean remains a zone of peace.
02:19In sharp contrast, he notes that Prime Minister Passat-Bissasa
02:22has signaled that Karikam can no longer be regarded as a dependable ally.
02:27Wickham also warns that military equipment rejected by Grenada
02:32is now operating as a radar system in Tobago
02:35under what he notes are less than transparent circumstances.
02:39I continue to be very, very concerned about the direction of all this
02:43and the extent to which it's not good for the region.
02:46And I am also concerned that it is not good for Trinidad and Tobago.
02:50And frankly, I am struggling to understand
02:53how your national interest as Trinidad and Tobago
02:56is being served by these hostile actions.
02:58Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
