Dookeran: Keep a ‘watchful eye’ on US, Venzuela tensions

Former government minister Winston Dookeran. -

FORMER foreign affairs minister Winston Dookeran says Trinidad and Tobago needs to pay close attention to ongoing tensions between the US and Venezuela as US Navy vessels deploy in the southern Caribbean Sea near to Venezuela.

In a WhatsApp comment on August 23, Dookeran said, "TT should have a watchful eye on these developments."

But he also suggested TT should not be an uninterested bystander as events unfold in the southern Caribbean.

Dookeran, who served as foreign affairs minister in the former UNC-led People's Partnership coalition government, suggested that as US-Venezuela developments unfold, TT should be "seeking intelligence through back door channels.

He said this is important for TT to "protect its national interest and possibly be a bridge to peace if hostilities escalate."

In a statement on CNC3 on August 22, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers said TT was taking no sides in the US-Venezuela stand-off.

Sobers said the government has always maintained a non-interventionist approach to anything that may result in turmoil.

"We have good bilateral relations with both countries – the US and Venezuela. We intend on keeping it that way."

In December 2024, TT and the US signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which allows military-to-military engagement between the countries.

Sobers said no talks have been held with the US on using TT as a base.

The US has claimed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government is one of narco-traffickers and illegitimate .

The US has also offered a US$50 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Maduro.

Maduro has vowed to deploy 4.5 million militia members across Venezuela in response to the US naval deployment.

The Aegis-guided missile destroyers USS Gravely, Sampson, and Jason Dunham are the vessels being deployed. The personnel on these ships are reported to be approximately 4,000 sailors and marines.

A Reuters report last week hinted these vessels could be reinforced with additional military assets that could include other warships, P-8 spy planes, and at least one attack submarine.

Dookeran said TT should stay out of any war of words between the two nations and maintain a position of "positive neutrality" on this matter.

He said there should be a consolidation of a "common Caricom voice of sovereignty and threats of narco behaviour to undermine the pillars of democracy."

At a virtual summit of the ALBA TCP group on August 20, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the US naval deployment.

The group expressed its support for the Venezuelan President. They also backed Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s call for an urgent regional foreign ministers meeting.

Maduro said ALBA TCP has always been the first “in denouncing imperialist aggression."

The members of this group are Venezuela, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. Haiti and Iran have observer status in the group

Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada are also Caricom member states.