Sobers: PM is ‘on top of things’

Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers addresses the media at a press conference held at UNC headquarters in Chaguanas on January 4. At right is Housing Minister David Lee. - Photo by Innis Francis

FOREIGN and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has not gone missing in action since US military forces executed a covert operation on January 3, to capture and extract Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from a fortified compound in Caracas and transport them to New York.

Maduro and Flores are expected to stand trial there on drug and several other criminal offences.

Addressing a news conference held at UNC headquarters in Chaguanas on January 4, Sobers rejected any suggestion that Persad-Bissessar has failed to address the nation directly about events leading up to and after Maduro's capture.

"The Prime Minister is on top of things. There is nothing to be worried about. The administration is in control."

Maduro and Flores were captured and extracted from Caracas around 2 am on January 3, through a coordinated US aerial and ground operation. The US Army's elite counter-terrorism unit Delta Force was reportedly involved in the mission which US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine described as well planned months in advance among several entities, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Caine visited Trinidad and Tobago last November and held talks with Persad-Bissessar. After those talks, Persad-Bissessar said the discussions with Caine did not involve Venezuela but US-TT security cooperation against narco-trafficking.

Last October and November, members of the 22nd US Marines Expeditionary Unit (MEU) held joint training exercises with the TT Defence Force. The guided missile destroyer USS Gravely, one of the first ships in the region as part of the ongoing military deployment, also visited TT last October.

US Marines also installed a military radar at the ANR Robinson International Airport last November. Persad-Bissessar has insisted the radar was to deal with narco-trafficking in TT maritime areas. The government has also allowed the US military access to the Piarco and ANR Robinson International Airports for transit flights for an indefinite period of time.

Sobers said shortly after Maduro's extraction, Persad-Bissessar has been engaged with elements of the National Security Council (NSC) which she chairs. He added this engagement continues. Sobers could not say when or if Persad-Bissessar will address matters surrounding Maduro's capture

He repeated Persad-Bissessar's statements on January 3, about TT not being involved in the US military action which removed Maduro from power, continuing support for the Venezuelan people and hoping for strengthen relations with Venezuela as it transitions to a post-Maduro period.

Sobers dismissed a suggestion that Venezuela views TT as being complicit with the US in removing Maduro as president.

"I don't know at all that Venezuela considers TT complicit in anything. That has never been said by any authority in Venezuela since yesterday."

Sobers also dismissed questions about previous threats made by Venezuelan government officials against TT before January 3. He said despite all the rhetoric, TT-Venezuela diplomatic ties remain intact and TT Embassy staff in Caracas are safe. Sobers added all TT nationals resident in Venezuela or visiting there before January 3 have been accounted for.

"There is no risk at all."

Despite Maduro's capture, Sobers said government's position that the US military deployment to the Southern Caribbean is solely to fight transnational crime and nothing else, remained unchanged.

He repeated that TT has benefitted from a decrease in crime towards the end of last year, through a combination of the US intervention and Persad-Bissessar's vision to fight crime.

"It is clear that the intervention has worked."

Sobers wondered why emphasis was not being placed on this.

"That is what the media should be asking us questions on. That is what should be celebrated coming into 2026.

He said, "That is based upon a vision by our Prime Minister and the charge that is being led by her and by this administration."

Sobers said from day one, Persad-Bissessar has tactfully handled US-Venezuela tensions and how they impact on TT.

"The Prime Minister has always been extremely diplomatic in her use of language as it pertains to the evolving position in Venezuela and will continue to do so."

Sobers said there was nothing wrong with the briefing being held at UNC headquarters and not a government office.

"I don't think the country is actually concerned with the medium or the location of the press conference."

Sobers said citizens would be more concerned "with the substance of the press conference."

He told reporters that because the Venezuela situation is fluid and dynamic, information has to be carefully disseminated before it is shared with the public.

"We don't want to pronounce on matters that could cause a flurry of conversation that is not necessary at this point in time."

Sobers could not say whether or not Persad-Bissessar would attend a Caricom Heads of Government meeting scheduled to take place in St Kitts/Nevis at the end of February.

Persad-Bissessar has publicly disagreed with other Caricom leaders about the US deployment and Caricom's position that the Caribbean be maintained as a zone of peace. Last December, Persad-Bissessar condemned all local and regional critics of the deployment, claiming this was an attempt to get US forces to leave the Caribbean.

Persad-Bissessar said the US is the only nation in the world which can protect TT from external security threats.

Sobers also dismissed suggestions government is not being transparent about any of the events related to the ongoing situation in Venezuela.

"It is not being dealt with in a clandestine manner at all." Sobers said the public can be assured of two things from the UNC: You will get results, you will get transparency."

Sobers declined to comment about a video posted on social media, claiming that arms and ammunition were being escorted by the police to Chaguaramas. After confirming he is a member of the He also said matters before the NSC must be handled with discretion.

Housing Minister and UNC deputy political leader David Lee also agreed with Sobers that Venezuela's situation remains fluid.