00:00The government has indicated that the Prime Minister held several bilateral meetings alongside the Shield of the Americas Summit, with
00:08a view to deepening partnerships and expanding opportunities for Trinidad and Tobago. However, Opposition Senator Dr. Amy Brown has some
00:17doubts.
00:17They're calling everything a meeting, a meeting, a one-on-one meeting with President Trump. And then I heard about
00:24a meeting with Southern Command. But the evidence that we've seen indicates more a handshake, a courtesy call, photo opportunities,
00:33brief visits, a tour of a facility. Those aren't meetings. Meetings generate notes, aid memoirs. A meeting would have some
00:43record and a meeting would have deliverables and outcomes.
00:46So we're in a little bit of a twilight zone with this government.
00:50At the summit, the Prime Minister shared what she called a light moment with President Trump, as it relates to
00:56the pronunciation of her name. President Trump also gave her the pen with which he signed the Doral Charter.
01:02These high-stakes times, the regional and geopolitical environment, it's very, very complex. So having a Prime Minister with very
01:14little advisory support around her in terms of solid support, going off on these junkets and then coming back with
01:23a very rosy view, I've signed, I got a pen, etc., that's not good enough.
01:28There's a lot at stake. The future of Trinidad and Tobago, the development of our country, our good relations with
01:36our neighbors, including the Caribbean community, including Venezuela, including Cuba.
01:43And so it's not just a case of painting a rosy picture on an overseas mission. The standard has to
01:54be higher. It must be higher.
01:56But Dr. Brown says what is needed is for the Prime Minister to account to the people of TNT.
02:02What is expected of a national leader is that the Prime Minister would engage with the population, engage with the
02:10media and present the benefits, the details and the benefits to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
02:20She also has the opportunity in the Parliament to make a comprehensive statement that can be then questioned and interrogated
02:29within the precincts of the Parliament.
02:31Renasa Katting, TV6 News.
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