00:00Fellow citizens, we deserve better. This is not simply about the issue of a radar installation. It's a matter of governance.
00:10Opposition leader Penelope Beckles, during a video recorded address on her Facebook page,
00:15about the concerns her party and others have about the radar system recently installed by the U.S. military in Tobago.
00:22We first heard of the radar development as a nation on Thursday, November 26, 2025.
00:30That morning, the people of Trinidad and Tobago awoke to reports of a foreign military aircraft landing in Tobago without prior public notice.
00:41From that moment, there were more questions than answers.
00:44And to this day, the nation remains largely in the dark, left to speculate on matters of its own national security.
00:53The opposition leader spoke on Friday after Prime Minister Kamlo Posad-Basasa said
00:57citizens should not worry about the radar of Venezuela, as Venezuela's government has been accusing the Trinidad and Tobago government of being part of a U.S. agenda in the region.
01:08We are clear that there may be times when national security matters must remain confidential to ensure that responses to crime and criminal activity are not compromised.
01:20But the citizens of the public must never be misled.
01:25Nor should we be left with the impression that those entrusted with authority are not being truthful.
01:34This matters.
01:35Because national security cannot rest on secrecy alone.
01:41The opposition leader said there have been inconsistencies in the government's explanations about the radar.
01:46Because national security cannot rest on secrecy alone.
01:53Nor can it rest and survive on political mockery.
01:58The opposition leader spoke about the recent seizure of $171.2 million of creepy marijuana in Karani,
02:07which the police said was due in part to the radar system,
02:11before she made an apparent reference to a report in the Sunday Express dated December 17th,
02:18based on reporting by the New York Times.
02:21And then came the shock.
02:23A complete embarrassment.
02:27The manufacturer of the ground-task-oriented radar installed in Tobago
02:32stated plainly that the device is not designed for maritime purposes.
02:39A representative of the American Aerospace and Defense Company
02:45that manufactures the system confirmed it is not designed to track maritime or ground targets.
02:55Opposition leader Beckles posed her own questions to the government.
03:00Why do we need a radar installation in Tobago?
03:04Was the December 11th drug bus in fact connected to this radar?
03:09Who holds the information and intelligence related to its operation?
03:17If the radar did not assist in that seizure, why were we told that it did?
03:24And ultimately, how does this radar truly serve the security interests of Trinidad and TB?
03:32The nation deserves clarity.
03:35The nation deserves honesty.
03:37The opposition leader said the safety and security of the people of Trinidad and Tobago
03:41must always rise above politics.
03:44Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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