00:00And I want to ask this government, I want to ask this government whether or not they are in contact
00:08with Trinidad students who are resident in Cuba and whether there is any indication for evacuation of those students.
00:19Opposition leader Penelope Beckles is speaking during the opposition's media conference as she made reference to the U.S. having
00:26recently amplified its economic embargo against Cuba with a fuel blockade.
00:33Now we are aware that there is literally a humanitarian crisis in Cuba. We understand that there are nationwide blackouts,
00:45there's collapse of the electricity infrastructure, there's a strain on hospitals, the healthcare system, the water, whether it's water, whether
00:55it's food, whether it's public transportation.
00:58During the CARICOM heads of government meeting in St. Kitsanivis last month, Prime Minister Kalma Pesad-Besessa said she empathizes
01:05with the good people of Cuba.
01:07She made reference to comments made by the Prime Minister of Jamaica.
01:11And as you said, Prime Minister Holiness, we have to find a mechanism for the humanitarian efforts of the people
01:18of Cuba. But at the same time, we cannot and I will not, Trinidad de Bego, will not support a
01:24dictatorship in Cuba or anywhere else. We will not support it.
01:28CARICOM announced on Tuesday that member governments were preparing to dispatch humanitarian aid to Cuba.
01:34I want to ask the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs whether they are planning to end diplomatic
01:41relations with Cuba and whether or not they intend to close the embassy in Cuba.
01:48I also want to ask the government whether they are willing to sacrifice all the values and standards of this
01:59country and CARICOM on the altar of some sort of foreign script and whether or not this country really is
02:09in control of our foreign policy.
02:12Opposition leader Beckels posed those questions as she said there are several questions the government is not answering in the
02:21parliament.
02:21You want to hide behind a section in the regulations and rules of the parliament in order to deny the
02:31public certain information.
02:33And we are saying that this government is a pack of cowards. That's what they are, a pack of cowards.
02:39Members of the government have on several occasions invoked standing orders in the House of Representatives and the Senate which
02:46stipulate that a minister may decline to answer a question if, in his opinion, the publication of the answer would
02:53be contrary to the public interest.
02:56Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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